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Lot Essay
The Lepaute (or Le Paute) family was one of the most celebrated firms of 18th century French clockmakers. The signature refers to the company operated by the brothers Jean André - called l'Aîné - and Jean-Baptiste - called le Jeune. They were working from 1750 - and had even gained royal favor by 1751 as they were lodging in the palais du Luxembourg and then the Galeries du Louvre - yet they only established themselves formally on October 28, 1758. By 1775, Jean-André had retired and Jean-Baptiste continued and the firm with his two nephews Pierre-Basile and Pierre Henri. The signature LEPAUTE HORLOGIER DU ROI was used until 1792 and it is impossible to distinguish, with any precision, the individual contributions of any of the family members (see J.-D. Augarde, Les ouvriers du temps: la pendule à Paris de Louis XIV à Napoléon Ier, Geneva, 1996, pp. 350-353). Besides Louis XV, Louis XVI, the comtes de Provence and d'Artois and other members of the royal family and the court, they supplied clocks to the courts of Parma, Spain and Sweden. They collaborated with some of the most celebrated sculptors of the period, notably Clodion, Houdon and Augustin Pajou (1730-1809), who may have supplied the design for the present model.
An identical model with the movement by Roque is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon. The only differences being that the marble is white, it is entirely gilded without the contrast of the present model and there are no signatures on either the marble or ormolu (see Augarde, op. cit., p. 27).
A well-known version, also by Lepaute and after a Pajou design, includes a less precise celestial globe - with only stars rather than the extremely detailed globe of the present lot - two putti in a slightly different arrangement and the figure of Father Time leaning over the composition (see P. Hughes. The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, no. 110).
An identical model with the movement by Roque is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyon. The only differences being that the marble is white, it is entirely gilded without the contrast of the present model and there are no signatures on either the marble or ormolu (see Augarde, op. cit., p. 27).
A well-known version, also by Lepaute and after a Pajou design, includes a less precise celestial globe - with only stars rather than the extremely detailed globe of the present lot - two putti in a slightly different arrangement and the figure of Father Time leaning over the composition (see P. Hughes. The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, no. 110).