Watch

Jean Antoine Lépine

ca. 1766 · Case: gold, partly enameled and set with diamonds; Dial: enamel · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Lépine was appointed clockmaker (Horloger du Roy) to Louis XV (1710–1774) probably about the end of 1765 or the beginning of 1766, and he included the appointment in his signature until about 1790 or 1792, when revolutionary activity in France made a mention of the monarch impolitic, if not dangerous. In the period leading up to the Revolution, his watches became famous for their slim elegance and increasingly inventive technology. The Museum’s watch is a simpler product of the 1760s, displaying Lépine’s effort to decrease the space between the plates of the movement while still allowing room for the verge escapement.

Artist

Jean Antoine Lépine

Date

ca. 1766

Medium

Case: gold, partly enameled and set with diamonds; Dial: enamel

Culture

French, Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Joseph W. Drexel, 1889