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Regulator clock by André-Charles Boulle, 1714–1719 — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: © 1983 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / RMN Agence photo · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Regulator clock

Regulator clock by André-Charles Boulle, 1714–1719

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
André-Charles Boulle (Ebéniste); Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (Ebéniste)
Date
1714–1719
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
Unrecorded in source
Object type
Regulator clock
Materials / technique
steel
Dimensions
height 265,5 cm; width 72,5 cm; depth 39 cm; height 7,5 cm
Holding institution
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Accession / object no.
OA 6746
Credit line
Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes
Catalogue title (original)
Régulateur (French)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 6746), this is a regulator clock by André-Charles Boulle, dated 1714–1719. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: steel. Recorded dimensions: height 265,5 cm; width 72,5 cm; depth 39 cm; height 7,5 cm. The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Catalogue description — Musée du Louvre (French)

Trois parties composent l'ensemble : le fût, à décor de marqueterie en première partie de laiton sur fond d'écaille ; le balancier, à décor de marqueterie en acier sur fond de corne teintée en bleu, et le cadran.

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Dating and period as catalogued (French)

Epoque / période : Louis XV (1715-1774) (Occident->époque moderne = Ancien Régime->dynastie des Bourbons) · · Date de création/fabrication : vers 1714 - 1719

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Materials and techniques as catalogued (French)

Technique : marqueterie de type Boulle (techniques bambou/ bois/ corne/ ivoire/ écaille->marqueté = marqueterie->marqueterie d'écaille de cuivre et d'étain) (ébénisterie) · Matériau : acier · Matériau : bronze (garniture doré) · Matériau : chêne (bâti) · Matériau : ébène (placage)

Shown in the original language of the source catalogue. An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.

Inscriptions & marks

Signature : ; Le Bon (sur le cadran en cuivre et sur un cartouche en émail)

Provenance

Exécuté pour Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse (1687-1737), fils légitimé de Louis XIV et de la marquise de Montespan, grand amiral de France pour son hôtel, ancien hôtel de La Vrillière, dit hôtel de Toulouse à Paris (actuelle banque de France); sous la Révolution, affecté à l'Imprimerie nationale installée à l'hôtel de Rohan. Transmis par le Ministère des Finances en 1915 Archives : AN, F21 4478 : rapport Molinier du 24 février 1896 pour demande d'attribution au Louvre de meubles du XVIIIè en dépôt dans divers établissement publics (concerne notamment le régulateur Boulle du Ministère des Finances) AMN - M4, lettre du 27 novembre 1896

Historical context

Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)

Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.

Huygens's pendulum (1656–57) improved clock accuracy from about a quarter of an hour to under a minute a day. The anchor escapement (c. 1670) and the long seconds pendulum created the longcase clock; London makers such as Fromanteel, Knibb, Tompion and Quare led European clockmaking, and French makers created the Boulle pendule.

Read the period in the timelineMore clocks from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology

Atlas type guide

Regulators, wall and Vienna clocks

A regulator is a precision pendulum clock used as a time standard in observatories, workshops and railway offices. Typical features are a deadbeat or Graham escapement, a temperature-compensated pendulum (mercury jar, gridiron or later invar), maintaining power and a regulator dial that separates hours, minutes and seconds. George Graham's deadbeat escapement (c. 1715) and his mercury pendulum, together with Harrison's gridiron, set the pattern for two centuries.

Wall clocks span a much wider range: the elegant Viennese Laterndluhr and Dachluhr of the Biedermeier period, the Dutch stoelklok and staartklok, English 'dial' clocks used in schools, offices and railway stations, and mass-produced spring and weight wall clocks from Germany (Gustav Becker, Junghans, Kienzle) and America.

What to look for

  • Deadbeat escapement and compensated pendulum (gridiron rods, mercury jar or wood rod).
  • A regulator dial with a large central minute hand and separate hour and seconds dials.
  • Vienna regulators: glazed cases, slender pendulum, small weights, enamel two-piece dials.
  • German factory trademarks stamped on the backplate (e.g. Gustav Becker anchor and crown, Junghans star).

Dating clues

  • Graham-type deadbeat regulators: from c. 1720.
  • Viennese Laterndluhr: c. 1800–1850.
  • German factory 'Vienna-style' regulators: c. 1870–1930; Gustav Becker serial numbers allow close dating.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Deadbeat escapementAnchor (recoil) escapementGrasshopper escapement

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