An antique art piece is always a center of attraction. It gives life and brilliance to any area of your house. Aside from its elegance and uniqueness, it is surrounded by mystery and history.
In movies, people cross desserts, traverse hills and mountains, and dive in to the depths of the seas to retrieve lost treasures of the past. Whether a painting, a goblet, or an artifact, the masterpiece that the protagonist always strive for and the antagonist always chase for never fail to provide a certain air of mystifying scene.
That is the same reason why some people spend so much for an antique piece. It creates an unusual atmosphere that makes a room extra special. In French interiors, shining shimmering metal wares adorning every corner and walls of palaces and mansions speaks of luxury and authority but they are not made of gold. The candelabras (candle holders), light fixtures, chandeliers, fire place fittings, and mantle clocks are all made of gilt bronze and brass.
In modern era, the antique French clocks are one of the most interesting pieces that greatly change the mood of the surrounding. Especially those that are made in 17th to early 19th century, all of the clocks then were handmade. They are carefully crafted and assembled by connoisseurs from different artistic fields.
A good example would be the creations of Jean Andre Lepaute. A Lepaute movement stamped clock is not just an ordinary clock. Its list of clients boasts the names of the royal family and members of the court and high ranking clergymen.
Jean Andre Lepaute moved to Paris to start a business together with his brother Jean Baptiste. His first major contribution to horology was the invention of single wheel clock that showed hours, minutes, and even seconds, at the same time striking in hourly and quarterly manner. In 1973 he devised a pin wheel escapement which is called virgule escapement. It came from the idea of cylinder escapement with concomitances to the invention of Pierre Augustine Caron --- the double virgule escapement.
Some of his works adorns prominent locations. In Hermitage, St. Petersburg housed one of the best mantle clocks he ever made. The theme of Day and Night is as vivid as a featured story. It plays with different rare and special materials like tortoiseshell, enamel, gilt brass, and ebony. A man and a woman under the exact negative shade of white enamel dial that represents the day and the gilt bronze eagle surmounting the dark tone of tortoishell really fits perfectly together that makes the antique mantle clock a classic.
His antique clocks also reached the pedestals of National Watch and Clock Museum in Pennsylvania. This shelf clock that dates back 1780 has inscription of “Horloger du Roi” or the clockmaker to the King which he earned during his prime years.
Some other antique clocks made by Jean Andre Lepaute are displayed in Ecole Royale Militaire kept in good running condition, another in Buckingham Palace in London, Conservatoir des Arts et Métiers in Paris, some fine vase clocks in Petit Palais, and in Palais de Fontainebleu.