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 city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Born at Thonne-la-Long in

Lorraine Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

, Lepaute arrived in

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

Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

, 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 At ...

and the château des Ternes that he was given lodgings in the Luxembourg. His clock at the

École militaire École or Ecole 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 * Éco ...

, Paris, (''illustration, right'') 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 t ...

. 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 (1774–1792), 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 (; , 5 January 1723 – 6 December 1788), also erroneously known as Hortense Lepaute, was a French astronomer and human computer. Lepaute along with Alexis Clairaut and Jérôme Lalande calculated the date of the return of H ...

, who nursed him in his long last illness. His nephew was the clockmaker, mathematician and astronomer Joseph Lepaute Dagelet who accompanied Lapérouse on his fateful scientific navigation. Jean-André retired in 1775, whereupon his brother Jean-Baptiste took over the workshop. Jean-Baptiste likewise constructed some famous public clocks, including the 1780 equation clock on the Hôtel de Ville de Paris and the clock on the

Hôtel des Invalides The Hôtel des Invalides (; ), commonly called (; ), is a complex of buildings in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France, containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and an old soldi ...

. 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 Meuse (department)