BY JEAN-ANDRÉ LEPAUTE, CIRCA 1770-75

Working closely with the bronziers François Vion and Robert and Jean-Baptiste Osmond, Jean-André Lepaute (1720-1789) perfected his designs for clocks with rotating dials, cadrans tournants, in about 1765. The Lepaute signature or stamp is found on several related models, most with a handled vase and serpent pointer, which are based on a design by Gilles-Paul Cauvet (1731-1788) and described by Lepaute in his 1766 Description de plusieurs ouvrages d'horlogerie as a 'Pendule verte à cercles tournants, l'heure est indiquée par un serpent. Ce modèle est de Cauvet, 1300 livres' (P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XVIIIe Siècle, 1987, pp. 109-110, no. 131; H. Ottomeyer & P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, vol. I, Munich, 1986, pp. 194-195, nos. 3.12.1, .2, .5; P. Kjellberg, Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française, Paris, 1997, p. 284, fig. C).

A number of variants of this elegant model of clock are known to exist, one formerly in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton, sold by Christie's on the premises at Hamilton Palace, 26 June 1882, lot 529. Other examples have been sold at Christie's, Paris, 22 June 2004, lot 247 (€47,000) and at Sotheby’s, Paris, 28 June 2023, lot 309 (€53,340).

Spelled both Le Paute and Lepaute, the celebrated dynasty of horlogers was founded by Jean-André Lepaute in 1740. He settled in Paris and was appointed horloger du Roi with lodgings in the Palais de Luxembourg. His innovative ideas, such as the échappement repos of 1753, as well as his writings, including the impressive Traité d'Horlogerie, published in 1755, earned him the title maître and lodgings at the Louvre by 1759. His brother, Jean-Baptiste (1727-1802), also became horloger du Roi and succeeded him at the lodgings in the Louvre in 1775.