Longcase Clock (Régulateur) thumbnail 1
Longcase Clock (Régulateur) thumbnail 2
+27
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 1

This object consists of 6 parts, some of which may be located elsewhere.

Longcase Clock (Régulateur)

1770-1775 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Robert Robin, the maker of this clock, was one of the most celebrated clockmakers in 18th-century Paris. He was clockmaker to Louis XV and continued to produce his finely engineered movements even after the French Revolution of 1789. In Paris at that time, the different trades were tightly controlled by the guild system and Robin did not make the wooden cases of his clocks. This case is stamped ‘B. LIEUTAUD’, the mark of the cabinetmaker Balthazar Lieutaud, who worked frequently with Robin.

Several cases of this shape exist, each with slightly different decoration in marquetry and gilt bronze. Some show figures of Apollo and his chariot as the cresting decoration at the top. Others, like this one, use the figure of Father Time with his scythe. This clock would originally have been slightly higher, with a low plinth section below the base.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 6 parts.

  • Key
  • Longcase Clock
  • Key
  • Pendulum
  • Hood
  • Movement
Materials and techniques
Tulipwood and other woods on a carcase of oak, set with a marquetry panel and with gilt-bronze mounts; the movement of steel and brass; the dial enamelled black on white
Brief description
Longcase clock (Régulateur) of tulipwood and other woods veneered on oak, the case set with gilt-bronze mounts, including a figure of Chronos (Father Time), the dial of white enamel
Physical description
Calendar equation regulator (régulateur), the case veneered in tulipwood and other woods on a carcase of oak, the front face of the base with a panel of lozenge marquetry, the case mounted with gilt-bronze mounts, including the figure of Time, with his scythe, as a cresting. The dial and dial plate are marked 'Robin a Paris' and the case is stamped four times with the stamp B.LIEUTAUD. The clock is missing its base, but a replacement base was made by the Museum in 2015, for display.
Dimensions
  • With figure height: 2635mm
  • Width: 450mm
  • Depth: 280mm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • B.LIEUTAUD (Stamped four times on the back of the clock case, the mark of the cabinet-maker. Stamped at the base at the proper right and proper left parallel to the dovetails and at the upright part at eye height at the proper right and proper left side of the panel)
  • Robin a Paris (On dial and dial plate)
  • Barbezat (On reverse of enamel dial. This is the mark of the enameller Elie Barbezat.)
  • LESIEUR 1817 (Scratched on the underside of the dial plate. Probably the mark of a repairer.)
Gallery label
Long-case clock About 1770–75 The clock-case is severely rectilinear in outline, and most of its decoration is geometric. This combination is characteristic of much French Neoclassical furniture of its time. Other decoration includes cast laurel leaves and bands of guilloche ornament (flower heads encircled by bands). These were copied from classical architecture. The figure of Time, however, was a type common in art of the period. France (Paris) Case by Balthazar Lieutaud Movement by Robert Robin Oak and softwood, veneered with tulipwood, purpleheart, sycamore and boxwood; glass; gilded copper alloy mounts; modern plinth Bequeathed by John Jones (09/12/2015)
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Object history
Acquired by John Jones before 1882
Subject depicted
Summary
Robert Robin, the maker of this clock, was one of the most celebrated clockmakers in 18th-century Paris. He was clockmaker to Louis XV and continued to produce his finely engineered movements even after the French Revolution of 1789. In Paris at that time, the different trades were tightly controlled by the guild system and Robin did not make the wooden cases of his clocks. This case is stamped ‘B. LIEUTAUD’, the mark of the cabinetmaker Balthazar Lieutaud, who worked frequently with Robin.

Several cases of this shape exist, each with slightly different decoration in marquetry and gilt bronze. Some show figures of Apollo and his chariot as the cresting decoration at the top. Others, like this one, use the figure of Father Time with his scythe. This clock would originally have been slightly higher, with a low plinth section below the base.
Associated object
Bibliographic reference
Frederick Litchfield, Illustrated History of Furniture From the Earliest to the Present Time. 4th ed. London and New York, 1899, illustrated p. 171
Collection
Accession number
1011:1 to 3&A -1882

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Record createdJanuary 6, 2005
Record URL
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