Pope's Grand Orrery: Up Close & Personal

The Grand Orrery (a mechanical model of the solar system) was built between 1776 and 1787 in Boston by a clockmaker and inventor, Joseph Pope.  It is made of mahogany, brass, ivory, and glass—all materials that were of necessity imported to make this “American” product.  The inner part of the movement may also have been imported from England, with Pope adding to it in a rough and not-well-planned manner over many years.  In place of the usual caryatids at the corners of the twelve-sided skirt, the orrery has cast-brass statuettes of Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and James Bowdoin (Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the time of the orrery’s completion).  The glazed beehive dome, representing the sphere of fixed stars, thus literally rests on the shoulders of science and the state.   

Other artisans helped in its production, although they did not sign it.  For instance, the wood patterns for the twelve brass figures were carved by Simeon Skillin Jr, a woodcarver best known for ship figureheads.  The brass castings have been attributed to Paul Revere.  Pope also was advised by Benjamin Waterhouse, the notable physician and professor of Harvard Medical School, who served as his go-between with Governor Bowdoin and more elite individuals.

Magnificent in scale and as political and scientific furniture, the Pope orrery was a spectacle in its day.  Still unfinished, it made the news when it narrowly escaped the great fire in Boston’s South End in 1787. In 1788 it was praised by members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and purchased by Harvard College with funds raised via the sale of lottery tickets.  A fixture in Harvard’s Philosophy Chamber, the orrery was shown off to visitors such as George Washington (1789) and used to teach John Quincy Adams (1786) and other students.  

The Pope Orrery remains a star object in the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, where it looms large at the entrance to the Putnam Gallery as part of "Time, Life, & Matter: Science in Cambridge." It was also recently part of "The Philosophy Chamber: Art & Science in Harvard's Teaching Cabinet, 1766-1820." at the Harvard Art Museums.

This coming fall, November 2-3, 2023, the Grand Orrery will be taking another bow. Historians of science, as well as specialists in the fields of furniture, 18th century labor, and politics, horologists, and conservators will gather for a workshop to interpret the orrery from their diverse vantage points.   Together they will use the Pope Orrery as a mise-en-scène for an examination of Boston and the British world during the American Revolution.  

In preparation for what is sure to be a fascinating event, David P Wheatland Curator Sara Schechner and local horologist Richard Ketchen recently disassembled the orrery, carefully documenting its complex inner workings. The resulting observations and research will be integral to discussions this fall.