THE CLOCKMAKER ROBERT ROBIN, PARIS, THE ENAMELLER JOSEPH COTEAU, THE DIAL DATED 1778

A LOUIS XVI MASTERPIECE BY THE ROYAL CLOCKMAKER
This extraordinary clock combining the peak of artistic creation and scientific exploration of the period showcases the talents of the finest practitioners of their respective crafts. It would undoubtedly have been intended for use within the Royal Court. The new style ormolu case, glazed on five sides, possibly by the Parisian bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), to display the intricate movement by Louis XVI’s clockmaker Robert Robin (1741-1799) promoting his new remontoire, together with the remarkable dial and unusual pendulum bob by the finest enameller of the day Joseph Coteau (1740-1801) probably under the auspices of the most preeminent marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre (c.1740-1796).
The present clock is one of the earliest of this type, dated on the reverse of the dial by Coteau ‘..1778’. A further example, with dial dated ‘1781’, from a distinguished New York collection, sold Christie’s, New York, 20 April 2018, lot 7 ($200,000). Two clocks of this model in the Frick Collection (Bequest of Winthrop Kellogg Edey) are dated on the main springs 1784 (Accession no. 1999.5.151) and 1792 (Accession no. 1999.5.150).

ROBERT ROBIN CLOCKS FOR MARIE-ANTOINETTE
The commission for the present clock is unrecorded, although an inventory undertaken by Robin in 1793 of Marie-Antoinette’s clocks includes four mantel regulators amongst forty-five in total including one tantalisingly similar to the present clock: ‘28. Une pendule quarrée en ordre d’architecture à pannaux de glace, en cuivre doré en or mat, avec un pendul de compensation, mouvement à heures, minutes, seconde, à sonnerie, quantième du mois, jour de la semaine, les figures du zodiaque peintes en mignature sur le cadran, du nom de Robin.’ (‘28. A square clock with architectural case and glazed panels, in matt gilt bronze, with compensation pendulum, movement with hours, minutes, seconds, with striking, date, day of the week, the figures of the zodiac painted in miniature on the dial, by Robin’) P. Verlet, Les bronzes dorés Français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1999, p. 466.
A further inventory of the chateau of Saint-Cloud undertaken by the Revolutionary government in 1794 describes two clocks in the Pièce des Nobles of Marie-Antoinette's apartment that had not been there at the time of the 1789 inventory. One of these was a clock of the same form as the present example by Robin and with a Coteau zodiac-dial. It has been suggested that the latter Frick example may be the one described in the 1794 inventory, but this has yet to be definitively identified.
Tardy illustrates several mantel regulators by Robin, including one from the collection of Breguet. Three other table clocks, sharing the draped swag ormolu motif and zodiac dials are also illustrated (Tardy, La Pendule Francaise, vol. 2, 5th edition, Paris, 1981, pp. 136, 139 and 141). For another related example by Robin, the case of mahogany mounted with ormolu, dated circa 1786-89, see Jean-Dominique Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, Geneva, 1996, p. 392, no. 286.

THE REMONTOIRE AND DIAL COMPLICATIONS
In 1778 Robin was honoured by the Académie des Sciences, who approved two of his inventions. One of the articles he presented to the Academy was on his remontoire: 'Mémoire contenant des réflexions sur le proprieté du Remontoire, un éschappement naturel avec une courte description d'une pendule dans lacquelle ces effets sont éxecuté'. The remontoire system on the clock frequently rewinds the weights, which therefore give a constant force to the escapement, thus increasing its accuracy. Remontoires are designed to compensate for variations in the driving force and power transmission which can result in fluctuations in the impulse delivered to the balance. (For a diagram and explanation from Monet’s Traité d’Horlogie see Derek Roberts, Precision Pendulum Clocks, Schiffer, 2003, pp. 29⁄30). The level of sophistication on this clock is epitomised by such detail as the rarely seen fine adjustment to the deadbeat escapement.
Coteau’s dial has two minute hands to show the Equation of Time. Prior to the standardization of time in the 19th and early 20th Century, a development required by increased speed of travel, each community used its own local time, determined by a sundial. As the observed motion of the sun is not constant through the seasons, apparent solar time (sundial time) and mean solar time (clock time) only agree four times a year and can differ by up to sixteen minutes. The difference between the two is the equation of time. Equation clocks such as this example by Robin automatically adjust the relationship between the two minute hands throughout the year. The gilt-metal hands show apparent solar time (hours and minutes) and the blued steel hands show mean solar time (minutes and seconds). The introduction of this concept was an important development in the history of clock making.

ROBERT ROBIN
Robin was received as a maître horloger on 21 November 1767 by decree of the Council, which exempted him from the apprenticeship qualification, probably because he had already displayed exceptional talent. Other appointments included Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire du Roi in 1783 and Valet de Chambre-Horloger Ordinaire de la Reine in 1786. In 1794 he was made clockmaker to the Republic and in 1796 to the Directoire. Robin was one of the finest clockmakers of 18th Century France and highly regarded for both the excellence and ingenuity of his work. He made clocks with astronomic indications and adopted decimal timekeeping during the Revolution. J-D. Augarde notes: 'Il appartint au cercle restreint des grands horlogers de la fin du XVIIIe siècle qui apportèrent une contribution particulière au perfectionnement des instruments de la mesure du temps' (Augarde, op. cit., p. 391). His sons, Nicholas (1775-1812) and Jean-Joseph (1781-1856) continued with the business for the first third of the 19^th century.

JOSPEH COTEAU
Originally from Geneva, he became maître in 1778 and maître-peintre-émailleur at the Académie de St.-Luc in Geneva in 1766. He moved to Paris in 1772, where he was installed in the rue Poupie. A skilled miniaturist, he discovered a new method for fixing raised gold on porcelain and by 1780 his name first appears in the kiln records at Sèvres. Coteau was appointed Peintre-émailleur du roi et de la Manufacture Royale de Sèvres circa 1780, and by 1784 his production was considerable, receiving 4520 livres from the Manufacture de Sèvres for executed commissions.
Coteau was the most famous and arguably the finest enameller of his day, creating bejewelled dials for the greatest clockmakers. The renowned collector and horologist Winthrop Edey wrote of him: '[He] has remained unequalled... although the best of his successors were able to reach his level of virtuosity, they never achieved his perfect proportions nor his lush sweetness, which was an attribute of the ancien régime alone' (W. Edey, French Clocks in North American Collections, The Frick Collection, New York, 1982, p. 22).