Empire Gilt-Bronze Clock Depicting Diana the Huntress. French, c 1820

A Patinated and Gilt-Bronze Hanging Clock, with an enamelled dial and Arabic Numerals. The dial signed 'E. Artult / Moulins S.Allier'. The clock with a twin-train movement and a ...

A gilt bronze Empire clock in the form of a classical urn, by Maison Lepautre. French, circa 1825. The dial signed 'Lepaute a Paris'. The clock has an ornate cast bezel with a 3-inch porcelain dial with Roman numerals and Breguet style hands. The twin train eight-day movement with outside count wheel striking on a bell and silk thread suspension. This elegant Empire style clock has a gilt bronze case in the form of a classical urn with swan neck handles and a winged cherub to the neck. The circular pedestal base is raised on a footed stepped square plinth. The Lepaute family were the premier French clockmakers of their day. Their significance lies in their contribution to the clock making industry which had hitherto come under the trade of locksmiths. The family held the brevet Horlogers du Roi. Jean-André Lepaute (1720–1789) arrived in Paris at an early age and in 1740 founded the family business. A skilled artist and mechanic, he quickly gained an excellent reputation. He was received as maître by the clockmakers guild in 1759, was granted royal lodgings from the king in The Luxembourg Palace, and was entrusted with the construction of the majority of the great public clocks of Paris. He executed, amongst others, those in The Luxembourg Palace, the Jardin des Plantes, the Château de Bellevue and the Château des Ternes. His clock at Paris’s École Militaire still works today. Three editions of his Traité d’Horlogerie were published in Paris in 1755, 1760 and 1767. A small volume, Description de Plusieurs Ouvrages d’Horlogerie appeared in 1764. Jean-André’s wife, Nicole-Reine Etable de la Brière (1723-1788), was a highly esteemed mathematician and astronomer. Her passion for science lent itself to Lepaute’s work and she played an active role in the scientific and mathematical aspects of the clock making. Jean-André’s younger brother Jean-Baptiste Lepaute (1727-1802) joined him in Paris in 1747 and immediately started working for the family business. He was received as maître in 1776 and was known for the clocks he constructed for the Paris Hôtel de Ville (1780), destroyed in a fire of 1871, and for the Hôtel des Invalides (1784). Jean-Baptiste took over the workshop when Jean-André retired in 1775. After Jean-Baptiste’s death in 1802, the firm was taken over by his nephew Pierre-Basil Lepaute (1750-1843) where he was duly joined by his own nephew Jean-Joseph (1768-1846) and son Pierre-Michel (1785-1849). By 1816, Pierre-Michel Lepaute was in charge of the business. His masterpieces include the astronomical clock in Paris’s Bureau...

A rare Chinoiserie style gilt-bronze and enamel figural clock. This elegant and sophisticated clock has a finely chiselled gilt-bronze case with gold and enamel highlights. It dep...

A fine gilt bronze and champlevé enamel clock. French, circa 1880. The movement with impressed stamp to the backplate 'Vincenti et Cie 'Médaille D'Argent 1855', 'PARIS'. Thi...

An early 19 century French Empire gilt bronze clock depicting the mythological Lydian Queen Omphale sitting astride on a draped drum th...

A French fire-gilt clock depicting a standing pair of figures in “troubadour” attire, Restauration Era, 1815-1830. The silk-thread mechanism is in good working condition with key and...

French Empire gilt bronze clock French, early 19th century Measures: Height 38cm, width 27cm, depth 10cm This fine gilt bronze man...

A gilt bronze French Empire clock depicting an allegory to the earth’s water source. In this clock a classically draped nymph sits atop a rocky outcrop her right foot resting on the ...