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Lot Essay
This splendid figurative clock on a Zodiac 'cresent' is conceived to celebrate the festive deity of Flora and her husband Zephyr, the west wind of springtime and the Four Seasons accompanied by the zodiacal signs of the Ram, the Bull and the Twins. It relates to the celebrated clock by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), with Apollo's chariot on a Zodiac ring, which was executed around 1805 and now in the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace (H. Ottomeyer/P. Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, Munich, 1986, p. 355, fig. 5.9.6. and C. Jagger, Royal Clocks, The British Monarchy and its Timekeepers, London, 1983, p. 144, fig. 196.). An identical clock was exhibited in 1806 at the l'Expostion de Produits de l'Industrie, Paris (J-D. Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 141.).
Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814) took his son-in-law Pierre-Claude Raguet (1753-1810) into business in 1783. Raguet-Lépine, who signed his work Lépine took over in 1784, paying his father-in-law a yearly life annuity of 4000 francs from 1796. He probably started numbering his clocks from 4000. He supplied many clocks to the comte de Provence and to Louis XV's daughters; in 1810 his clients included Napoleon I, Empress Josephine and Charles IV of Spain.
Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814) took his son-in-law Pierre-Claude Raguet (1753-1810) into business in 1783. Raguet-Lépine, who signed his work Lépine took over in 1784, paying his father-in-law a yearly life annuity of 4000 francs from 1796. He probably started numbering his clocks from 4000. He supplied many clocks to the comte de Provence and to Louis XV's daughters; in 1810 his clients included Napoleon I, Empress Josephine and Charles IV of Spain.