A Directoire ormolu and Carrara marble portico mantel clock by Lepine

A Directoire ormolu and Carrara marble portico mantel clock by Lepine, the eight day brass cased drum movement with an outside countwheel and striking on a bell, with a silk suspension, the backplate inscribed and numbered 'Lepine her du Roy Paris no. 4163', the white enamel dial signed and by Barbichon, with Roman hours and Arabic minutes and days, inscribed with the days of the week, signed 'Lepine H.GER DU ROI' and 'Place des Victoires no.12', with pierced and scroll hands and steel calendar hands, the impressive temple case with chased and gilded bronze mounts, with an eagle surmount above six urns of flowers with a gallery supported by Corninthian columns hung with laurel swags with two female figures representing Justice and Fortitude flanking war trophies, the breakfront base with inset tablets of scrolling leaves and further trophies on a separate plinth base, 73cm high, 49.3cm wide.

Provenance:

Purchased from Art Ancien, Via dei Coronari, Rome, c.1997. By repute this clock belonged to a noble North Italian family. The Collection of Sir Jeremy Lever.

Jean Antoine Lepine (1720-1814) received maitre in 1762 and soon after he was appointed to the coveted position of Horloger du Roi (Louis XV). He subsequently served as watchmaker to Louis XVI and Napoleon I. He began his horological career in Geneva and on returning to Paris he was apprenticed to Andre Caron, the King's clockmaker. He subsequently married Caron's daughter in 1756. Until 1772 he operated from premises in the rue Saint-Denis and in 1789 he moved to 12 Place des Victoires. By this time the day to day running of the business was handled by his son-in-law Claude-Pierre Raguet-Lepine.

There are several clocks by him in the British Royal Collection and according to C. Jagger in his book 'Royal Clocks: The British Monarchy and its Timekeepers' Lepine was a favourite clockmaker of George IV and a number of clocks were bought from him.