A Louis XV style regulator clock
Rosewood veneer on oak, ormolu mountings. Silver and gold plated dial with black Roman hours and Arabic minutes, date aperture with date and month, domed glass. Pierced sun aperture for hour and minutes, one blued hand for the second and a subsidiary second. Day-running with spring suspension of the pendulum and rope. The case stamped "B.LIEUTAUD" on the reverse. The dial engraved "Solem arte sequor" and "Julien Le Roy", below "les aiguilles son marquet le Tems/ vrai et les autres le Tems moien". H 223, W 68, D 34 cm.
The movement 19th C., the case Balthazar Lieutaud (master since 1749), Paris, around 1750.
The dial bears the name of one of the most important watchmakers of the first half of the 18th century: Julien Le Roy (1686 - 1759). Born in Tours, he moved to Paris in 1699 and apprenticed with Le Bon. In 1713 he received the title of master. Le Roy began his career at a time when the reputation of French watchmaking was in decline. To strengthen his guild, he founded the Société des Arts de Génève together with others. He himself trained tirelessly and invented numerous mechanical improvements. Sworn in 1731, he was appointed "horloger du Roi" and valet de chambre in 1739. He was given rooms in the Louvre and made responsible for the maintenance of the royal clocks.
In this clock, unfortunately, only the dial remains of the period, the mechanics and the pendulum were replaced in the 19th century.
Literature
For this maker see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris 3/1972, p. 394.
For the cabinetmaker see Kjellberg, Le mobilier français du XVIII siècle, Paris 2008, p. 579 ff.