Gary R. Sullivan has passionately pursued the world of antiques since the age of 10 and now is a nationally recognized authority on early American clocks with over 45 years of experience in the antiques and fine arts business. As president of his Sharon, Massachusetts-based business, Gary R. Sullivan Antiques Inc., he specializes in American antique furniture from the Queen Anne through Classical periods, with particular emphasis on important early American clocks.
Beginning as a self-taught antique-furniture restorer, his early career was principally devoted to the restoration of furniture and clocks, which quickly transitioned into buying and selling antiques. This experience with furniture restoration provided him with an excellent working knowledge of early furniture-making methods and construction techniques, which has proven invaluable for authenticating antique furniture.
Today, Mr. Sullivan works with museums and private individuals to refine their collections of important American antique furniture and clocks. He is frequently called upon by institutions, auction houses, antiques dealers, and collectors to appraise, authenticate, and catalogue early American clocks. Mr. Sullivan has lectured extensively on early American furniture and clocks. He has authored award winning books on these subjects and has contributed to a significant body of scholarly research.
Gary Sullivan’s most recent book project with Patricia Kane, the Curator of American Decorative Arts at Yale University Art Gallery culminated in a highly acclaimed furniture exhibition and multi-award-winning book, Art & Industry in Early America, Rhode Island Furniture, 1650-1830. His focus on Rhode Island clockmakers, such as William Claggett, Thomas Claggett, Edward Spalding, James Wady, and David Williams sheds new light on these important early American clockmakers. Gary Co-Curated the Redwood Library exhibition of clocks, entitled The Claggetts of Newport, Master Clockmakers in Colonial America. This well-recieved 2019 exhibit featured masterpieces made by Newport clockmakers, William Claggett, Thomas Claggett and James Wady.
Mr. Sullivan’s book on early American musical clocks has also been recognized (by Historic New England) for advancing the scholarship of the subject. This book, entitled Musical Clocks of Early America, 1730-1830 is a catalogue raisonné, documenting all known musical and chiming clocks made in early America. These extremely rare mechanical marvels play tunes that our 18th- and early 19th-century ancestors sang and danced to. These tunes were the popular music of the day and often have lyrics that held deep meaning for their owners. The work of musical clockmakers, such as Daniel Burnap of East Windsor and Andover, Connecticut and Thomas Harland of Norwich, Connecticut is covered in great detail. The accompanying book, The Music of Early American Clocks, 1730-1830 focuses on the tunes played by these clocks, their history and their meanings. It is geared toward music historians, such as his co-author on the project, Kate van Winkle Keller.
He also co-authored the award-winning, Winterthur Museum-sponsored book entitled Harbor and Home: the Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710-1850. The focus of his study concentrates on the clocks and clockmakers from this region, including: John Bailey and his family from Hanover; Joshua Wilder and Rueben Tower from Hingham; Stephen Taber and Josiah Wood from New Bedford; and others such as Joseph Gooding, Ezra Kelley and Samuel Rogers. Mr. Sullivan has focused considerable attention on “dwarf clocks” made in the Hingham and Hanover area of Massachusetts, particularly those made by clockmakers, Joshua Wilder and Reuben Tower.
Mr. Sullivan continues to document and catalogue pre-1830 New England clocks for his ongoing research database. Clockmakers of particular interest include not only the acclaimed Simon and Aaron Willard, but other important makers such as Gawen Brown, William Claggett, Caleb Wheaton, William Cummens, David Wood, Lemuel Curtis, David Williams, and Elnathan Taber. Pertinent contributions to this research are welcome. To date Gary has compiled over 10,000 examples of documented American clocks from this period. A more complete listing of those clockmakers of interest can be found on his website.
