STILLWATER, NY: Saratoga National Historical Park is pleased to announce acceptance of donation of a Federal-style Tall Case Clock from the Museum of the City of New York. The circa 1790 “tall clock" was added to the park’s permanent museum collection on January 4, 2021. “The clock has long been a fixture of the Schuyler House and beloved by visitors. We’re deeply grateful to the Museum of the City of New York for offering it a permanent home with the National Park Service," said Acting Superintendent Chris Beagan.
From the late 1950s into the 1980s, the Old Saratoga Historical Association (OSHA) took on furnishing the Philip Schuyler House, a unit of the national historical park, in partnership with the National Park Service (NPS). Past OSHA President Helen Bullard and past NPS Curator Vera Craig worked together to furnish the house through donation, purchase, and loan based on a 1960 Historic Furnishing Report. The Museum of the City of New York loaned the tall clock to the park in 1962. It has stood in the front hall of the Schuyler House for nearly sixty years since.
Long-term museum loans come with stewardship requirements. Current NPS Curator Christine Valosin weighed these requirements as she worked to replace worn interior finishes and enhance furnishings in the Schuyler House in 2019-20. The park’s decision to terminate and return all long-term loans to their home institutions led to the Board of Trustees of the Museum of the City of New York to generously donate the “tall clock" to Saratoga National Historical Park.
While researching the clock, Valosin found fascinating information about its provenance in a family history booklet self-published by the Van Nest - Bussing family, who originally donated the clock to the Museum of the City of New York. The clock, which stood in the family’s Greenwich Village home stair hall, is the sole possession named and shown in the booklet. Its sentimental value to the family is conveyed in their description of the clock as a “silent witness to the family’s lives."
This “long-term visitor" to the Schuyler House is now a permanent part of the park’s museum collection. The tall clock awaits the opportunity to welcome visitors to the Schuyler House when it reopens after interior restoration.
For more information about Saratoga National Historical Park, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 670-2985, visit www.nps.gov/sara, or find the park on Facebook or Twitter @SaratogaNHP.
Tags: saratoga saratoga battlefield saratoga national historical park saratoga nhp schuyler house schuylerville collections museum museum collection acquisition schuyler family philip schuyler helen bullard old saratoga historical association
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
