Skip to content
Watch MuseumHorology Atlas
Regulator clock by Henri Lepaute, France, 1735–1755 — view 1 of 1
View 1 of 1 · Image: © 1993 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Jean-Yves et Nicolas Dubois · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Clocks · Regulator clock

Regulator clock by Henri Lepaute, France, 1735–1755

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Henri Lepaute (Horloger); Charles Cressent (Ebéniste)
Date
1735–1755
Historical period
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Country of origin
France
Place
Paris, France
Object type
Regulator clock
Materials / technique
wood
Dimensions
height 235 cm; width 67 cm; depth 29 cm
Holding institution
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Accession / object no.
OA 10651
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)

View the source record ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Held and catalogued by Musée du Louvre, Paris (object number OA 10651), this is a regulator clock by Henri Lepaute, made in Paris, France, dated 1735–1755. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Clocks collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: wood. Recorded dimensions: height 235 cm; width 67 cm; depth 29 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)

Régulateur plaqué de bois de rose avec panneaux marquetés d'un quadrillage. Corps balustre, le milieu élargi et orné d'un cartouche vitré laissant voir le pendule ; le haut garni d'un cadran horaire en émail blanc, signé "Lepaute Horloger du Roi". Au dessus du cadran, figure du Temps tenant sa faulx en ronde-bosse de bronze doré. Appliques de bronze ciselé et doré sous forme de rocailles, crosses, fleurs, graines, têtes et griffes de lion, deux têtes d'amours sur des nuages.

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 An editor-reviewed English translation has not yet been published; we do not publish machine translations as authoritative text.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 1735 - 1755

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)

Matériau : bois · Matériau : bronze (doré) · Technique : techniques bambou/ bois/ corne/ ivoire/ écaille (ébénisterie)

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.

Provenance

Mis en dépôt par le musée de Metz en échange du vitrail OAR 520, lettre du maire de Metz, 2 janvier 1976

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

Related records

Watch by Henri Lepaute, France, 1784–1789

Pocket Watches · 1784–1789

Watch by Henri Lepaute, France, 1784–1789

Musée du Louvre, Paris

Clock, France, 1590–1610

Clocks · 1590–1610

Clock, France, 1590–1610

MAK – Museum of Applied Arts

Table Clock, sheet brass, engraved, pierced and gilt, Paris, ca.1600, signed 'B(?) Pichard, à Paris'

Clocks · c. 1600

Table Clock, sheet brass, engraved, pierced and gilt, Paris, ca.1600, signed 'B(?) Pichard, à Paris'

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Table clock by Charles Goret, France, 1600–1699

Clocks · 1600–1699

Table clock by Charles Goret, France, 1600–1699

German Clock Museum

Table clock, France, 1640

Clocks · 1640

Table clock, France, 1640

Rijksmuseum

Clock with case of tortoiseshell inlaid with brass, Paris, late 17th century

Clocks · late 17th century

Clock with case of tortoiseshell inlaid with brass, Paris, late 17th century

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Crucifix Clock, signed W. H. Arnstad, mid- 17th century.

Clocks · 1650

Crucifix Clock, signed W. H. Arnstad, mid- 17th century.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Clock with pedestal, case attributed to André Charles Boulle, France, c. 1690

Clocks · c. 1690

Clock with pedestal, case attributed to André Charles Boulle, France, c. 1690

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York