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Lot Essay
Though unstamped, this impressive régulateur bears many of the hallmarks of works by the illustrious eighteenth-century ébéniste Nicolas Petit, including its graceful, rounded form and intricate bronze border mounts and foliate roundels. A régulateur in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris by Petit shares these features as well as a movement by Jean-André and Jean-Baptiste Lepaute, founders of the legendary dynasty of Parisian horlogers, with whom Petit frequently collaborated.
Petit established his atelier in the mid-18th century and was celebrated for his works in the Transitional style. Longcase clocks formed an important part of his oeuvre, and were often constructed in intricate architectural forms surmounted by elaborate bronze crestings. Further comparisons to the present régulateur can be drawn with a clock stamped by Petit and with a movement by Lepaute from the Alberto Bruni Tedeschi Collection, sold Sotheby's, London, 21 March 2007, lot 175, and a régulateur formerly in the Fabre collection, Paris, illustrated A. Droguet, Nicolas Petit, Paris, 2001, p. 73. Though all three have closely related design and ormolu decoration, this régulatuer is unusual in its bold cresting of a rooster clutching a caduceus and horn - a bona fide expression of the glories of France.
Petit established his atelier in the mid-18th century and was celebrated for his works in the Transitional style. Longcase clocks formed an important part of his oeuvre, and were often constructed in intricate architectural forms surmounted by elaborate bronze crestings. Further comparisons to the present régulateur can be drawn with a clock stamped by Petit and with a movement by Lepaute from the Alberto Bruni Tedeschi Collection, sold Sotheby's, London, 21 March 2007, lot 175, and a régulateur formerly in the Fabre collection, Paris, illustrated A. Droguet, Nicolas Petit, Paris, 2001, p. 73. Though all three have closely related design and ormolu decoration, this régulatuer is unusual in its bold cresting of a rooster clutching a caduceus and horn - a bona fide expression of the glories of France.