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Lot Essay
Jean-Antoine Lepine (1720-1814), moved to Paris circa 1745, and was subsequently made Horloger du Roi with his partner Pierre Raquet.
The design for this clock is inspired by the celebrated drawing executed circa 1785 and attributed to the ciseleur-doreur François Rémond, which is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 295, fig. 4.17.5. The two seated figures derive from models of L'Etude and La Philosophie created for the Sèvres factory by Louis-Simon Boizot in 1780. The marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre commissioned Rémond to design the clock to incorporate Boizot's figures (C. Baulez, 'La Pendule à la Geoffrin', L'Estampille, 4 (1989), pp. 39-41). In 1788 Daguerre supplied two clocks of this model to Louis XVI for the Château de St. Cloud, which are discussed in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XViie Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 322, fig. 357).
A virtually identical clock, interestingly numbered 'No. 4172', was sold Sotheby's New York, 28 April 1990, lot 104 ($ 33,000). Another closely related example was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 14 December 2000, lot 198 (£28,200).
The design for this clock is inspired by the celebrated drawing executed circa 1785 and attributed to the ciseleur-doreur François Rémond, which is illustrated in H. Ottomeyer P. Pröschel et. al., Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, vol. I, p. 295, fig. 4.17.5. The two seated figures derive from models of L'Etude and La Philosophie created for the Sèvres factory by Louis-Simon Boizot in 1780. The marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre commissioned Rémond to design the clock to incorporate Boizot's figures (C. Baulez, 'La Pendule à la Geoffrin', L'Estampille, 4 (1989), pp. 39-41). In 1788 Daguerre supplied two clocks of this model to Louis XVI for the Château de St. Cloud, which are discussed in P. Verlet, Les Bronzes Dorés Français du XViie Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 322, fig. 357).
A virtually identical clock, interestingly numbered 'No. 4172', was sold Sotheby's New York, 28 April 1990, lot 104 ($ 33,000). Another closely related example was sold anonymously in these Rooms, 14 December 2000, lot 198 (£28,200).