It’s so interesting that the curators and administrators at Jefferson’s beautiful home at Monticello keep finding or receiving new items that once belonged to the author of the Declaration of Independence.

An anonymous descendent of Jefferson’s recently made a gift to Monticello of Jefferson’s obelisk clock. Jefferson had a carved shelf inside of his alcove bed. He designed an obelisk clock which was engineered and built by Parisian clockmaker, Louis Chantrot. It’s quite a work of art in itself. When Tom could see the time on the clock as it sat on this shelf in the morning sunlight, that’s when he would arise and start the day.

Jefferson first used this clock when he was Secretary of State. Later he moved it to his home.

Of course you know about his alcove bed. It was situated between his bedroom and his study. Tom could get up on either side of his bed, depending on how he felt that day and what he needed to accomplish. The design of the bed allowed a flow of air to be a breeze over his bed in the time of the year when that was an advantage.

It seems that Tom had also designed a screen inside a folding frame that could be closed over the alcove if he needed to discontinue to flow of air. Jefferson sure thought of everything. This was discovered by the research of Monticello’s team of curators. This folding frame or screen will now be restored as designed.

New wallpaper, recipes, and a marble top table, have been discovered, as have some scientific tools Jefferson had used. There’s always something!