JEAN-ANDRÉ LEPAUTE
(MAÎTRE HORLOGER, 1759)

JEAN-BAPTISTE II LEPAUTE
(MAÎTRE HORLOGER, 1766)

Signed Lepaute Hger du Roi 

SIMILAR EXAMPLE:
Kjellberg, Pendule Française (1997), p. 191, fig. F. 

A gilded bronze cartel clock surmounted by a draped urn with mask above clock face and looped laurel garland below. 
Cartel clocks of the Louis XVI period are often topped with a covered urn and decorated with laurels, acanthus, ribbons, and friezes along the supports. Fewer examples exhibit the “Etruscan” style, with features like a tied ribbon supporting the clock face. 
Jean-André (maître, 1759) and Jean-Baptiste Lepaute founded a clock manufactory in 1747 and became highly successful due to a number of unusual inventions made by the elder brother Jean-André. The firm was based on the rue Saint-Honoré and later moved to Croix du Trahoir by the place du Palais Royal where it supplied an elite clientele of Parisian aristocrats and nobleman. The two nephews of Jean-Baptiste took over the business in the 1780’s.