French Empire vine orientated vase clock signed Blanc Fils

English Regency ormolu and white marble drum mantel clock. Typical drum shaped clock, set on four elaborate ormolu toupee feet. The white marble has an applied ormolu mount of flower...

Attractive french Empire clock in patinated bronze and ormolu of milestone or "borne" form. Having very fine applied ormolu mounts to the front and side of the case with also a fine ...

French Directoire period mantel clock. Constructed of black marble with white statuary marble mouldings with fire gilt/mercury ormolu touches such as ...

A most unusual Paris porcelain clock in the borne form from the Charles X period. Case probably by Jacob Petit with all over decoration in cream ...

Outstanding quality large French antique Victorian hand painted porcelain urn shaped mantle clock having a magnificent quality hand painted porcelain case in the shape of an urn with...

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...

19th Century French Biscuit and Gilt Bronze Mantel Clock – “Pendule en Biscuit aux Cygnes et aux Masques d’Hercule” A 19th-century French mantel clock, crafted in the form of a clas...

Fantastic quality antique Victorian French ornate eight day striking mantle clock, having a quality gilded ornate shape case, shaped handles with ornate figures to the top, standing ...