Jean-André Lepaute on:
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Jean-André Lepaute (23 November 1720 – 11 April 1789), together with his younger brother Jean-Baptiste Lepaute (6 February 1727 – 18 March 1802), was a founder of an outstanding French
Metropolitan Museum of Art: three clocks by Lepaute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepaute, Jean Andre French clockmakers 1720 births 1789 deaths People from Lorraine
Jean-André Lepaute (23 November 1720 – 11 April 1789), together with his younger brother Jean-Baptiste Lepaute (6 February 1727 – 18 March 1802), was a founder of an outstanding French clockmaker
A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly t ...
dynasty of their day, holding the brevet ''horlogers du Roi''. His brother assumed his workshop in 1774, when Jean-André retired; he died after a long illness at Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Born at Thonne-la-Long in Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gr ...
, Lepaute arrived in Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
as a young man. His brother joined him in 1747. Before he was received ''maître'' by the clockmakers' guild in 1759, he had made such a reputation with several public clocks, notably at the palais du Luxembourg
The Luxembourg Palace (french: Palais du Luxembourg, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the ...
, the château de Bellevue
The Château de Bellevue () was a small château built for Madame de Pompadour in 1750. It was constructed on a broad plateau in Meudon, above a slope overlooking the Seine to the east, but was demolished in 1823 and little remains.
History
...
and the château des Ternes that he was given lodgings in the Luxembourg. His clock at the École Militaire
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
, Paris, (''illustration, left'') still runs.
Lepaute was an innovator, to whom numerous improvements are due, especially his pin-wheel escapement
An escapement is a mechanical linkage in mechanical watches and clocks that gives impulses to the timekeeping element and periodically releases the gear train to move forward, advancing the clock's hands. The impulse action transfers energy to ...
. He constructed refinements to the clockwork in which the gears are all in the horizontal plane, making possible the revolving dials of clocks in urns (''illustration, right'') or in globes characteristic of the classicizing Louis XVI style
Louis XVI style, also called ''Louis Seize'', is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of Louis XVI (1774–1793), just before the French Revolution. It saw the final phase of t ...
. Three editions of his ''Traité d'Horlogerie'' were published in Paris, in 1755, 1760 and 1767. A small volume, ''Description de plusieurs ouvrages d'horlogerie'' ("A Description of several works of clockmaking") appeared in 1764.
His wife, whom he married in 1748, was the astronomer Nicole-Reine Lepaute
Nicole-Reine Lepaute () née Étable de la Brière, also erroneously known as Hortense Lepaute, (5 January 1723 – 6 December 1788) was a French astronomer and human computer. Lepaute along with Alexis Clairaut and Jérôme Lalande calculated t ...
, who nursed him in his long last illness. His nephew was the clockmaker, mathematician and astronomer Joseph Lepaute Dagelet
Joseph Lepaute Dagelet (1751–1788) was a French astronomer, clockmaker and mathematician who accompanied Lapérouse on his scientific circumnavigation, in the course of which he perished in the final shipwreck of the expedition. Dagelet's astro ...
who accompanied Lapérouse on his fateful scientific navigation.
A nephew Pierre-Basile Lepaute (1750–1843) carried the firm well into the 19th century.
Notes
External links
Metropolitan Museum of Art: three clocks by Lepaute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepaute, Jean Andre French clockmakers 1720 births 1789 deaths People from Lorraine