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Raguet-Lépine - Thomire - Barbichon
The vestals Mantel Clock
A Gilt and Patinated Bronze and Marble Mantel Clock
Pierre-Claude Raguet-Lépine (1753-1810), the case attributed to Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), the dial by
Edmé-Portail Barbichon
Paris, Louis XVI period, circa 1785-90
Height 64 cm, width 53.5 cm, depth 18.5 cm
An important Louis XVI gilt and patinated bronze and white marble mantel clock of eight-day duration, depicting the
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Vestal Virgins Carrying the Sacred Fire, the movement by Pierre-Claude Raguet-Lépine in a case attributed to
Pierre-Philippe Thomire, the dial signed Lépine/HER. du Roy Place des Victoires; the movement numbered and
signed Lépine hger du Roy Paris/no 4276 (later markings 580/WO and 2836/AM); the dial reverse signed
Barbichon. The white enamel dial features mixed Roman and Arabic hour numerals, the number one being
encircled, with an outer Arabic minute ring and inner red numerals for the days of the month. A fine pair of pierced
gilt brass hands indicate the hours and minutes; the calendar indications by a pierced blued steel index. The
movement, with anchor escapement and silk thread suspension, strikes the hours and half hours on a bell, with
outside count wheel.
Two fine patinated bronze figures representing Vestal Virgins carry a draped stretcher supporting the clock case,
which is surmounted by a flaming brazier on sphinx supports, headed by ram’s heads and flanked by a tazza and a
ewer, the rectangular white marble plinth with rounded ends centered by a gilt frieze of playful putti, with square
plaques mounted with the figures of Calliope to the left and Urania to the right (symbols of Geometry and
Astronomy), supported on four reclining lions and resting on a rectangular white marble base.
The hour chapter combining both Arabic and Roman numerals was characteristic of Lépine, though it was
abandoned around 1789. Another interesting feature is the circle around the number one, presumably used to
create an aesthetic balance with the XI. Jean-Antoine Lépine favoured this type of decoration, which suggests that
he continued to play an important role in the business, even after handing it over to his son in law in 1784.
This clock is unusual in that, unlike most other 18th century pieces, it has remained in the same family for several
generations. It was originally owned by Jean Grillon des Chapelles (1732-1813). Born in Chateauroux 1732, he was
the son of Rene Grillon (1685-1747), a wealthy silk merchant, and Marie, née Rabier. After studying law in Paris he
was appointed a lawyer to the Paris Parliament in 1764. The following year he married Amador-Thérèse Delarue
(1741-77), daughter of Pierre Delarue, Secretary to the King. An inventory drawn up in 1814, the year after Jean
Grillon des Chapelle’s death, lists the present clock; valued at 500 francs, it was the most expensive piece in his
collection and appears to have been placed on the mantelpiece in the grand salon. The clock was inherited by his
eldest son Amador-Jean-Pierre Grillon des Chapelles (1768-1853), who took it to the Château des Chapelles,
where it remained until recently, having been passed down through several generations. In a 1943 inventory the
clock was listed as “a gilt and patinated bronze clock, white marble base, by LEPINE, 12 000 francs”.
Provenance: Jean Grillon des Chapelles (1732-1813); Amador-Jean-Pierre Grillon des Chapelles (1768-1853), the
son of the latter and thence by descent; having remained until recently at the Château des Chapelles, Indre.
A 1790 design by Jean Démosthène Dugourc for a chimney piece designed for the bedroom of Madame Adélaïde
is illustrated in Ernest Dumonthier, Les Bronzes du Mobilier National, Pendules et Cartels, 1910, p. 5; it shows a
very similar clock in the centre of the mantelpiece. A similar clock with case by Pierre-Philippe Thomire and dial
signed Sauvageot à Paris is depicted in Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Pröschel, Vergoldete Bronzen, 1986, p. 297,
pl. 4.18.5. A similar clock with bronzes by Pierre-Philippe Thomire and movement by Robert Robin, with Sèvres
porcelain plaques, illustrated in Tardy, Les Plus Belles Pendules Françaises, 1994, pp. 184-5, is in the Paris
Musée des Arts Décoratifs. A similar clock with case by Pierre-Philippe Thomire and movement by Robert Robin,
with Sèvres plaques, illustrated in Jean-Dominique Augarde, Les Ouvriers du Temps, 1996, p. 240, pl. 189, is in
the Corcoran Gallery in Washington. On p. 266 of Pierre Kjellberg’s, Encyclopédie de la Pendule Française du
Moyen Age au XXe Siècle, 1997, there is an illustration of the clock in the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs, while a
similar clock, with dial signed Manière à Paris, is shown on p. 267.
In all sixteen comparable examples are recorded, including – in addition to those cited above - one in the
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Minneapolis Institute of Art (with leopards instead of lions) and two others in the Hermitage Museum in Saint
Petersburg. Five examples have Sèvres plaques. One was mentioned in the 1793 inventory of Marie-Antoinette’s
clocks; it was delivered in 1788 for the Queen’s boudoir in the Château de Saint-Cloud by marchand-mercier
Dominique Daguerre; today it is in the Paris Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Another, with movement by Pierre-Claude
Raguet-Lépine, was formerly in the Dalva Brothers Gallery in New York. Two examples have an imitation
Wedgewood frieze and movements by F. L. Godon, clockmaker to the King of Spain. One of these was delivered to
the Queen’s sister, the Duchess of Saxe-Teschen; the other is in the Madrid Museo Nacional des Artes
Decorativas.
The theory that marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre owned the model is confirmed by a passage in his probate
inventory: “X another clock called ‘The Porters’, movement set in a sort of stretcher surmounted by an altar, the
whole in gilt and matte bronze with bas-reliefs, carried by two female figures in patinated antique-colour bronze,
white marble base with low relief scene…”
The attribution to bronzier Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843) is confirmed by Alvar González-Palacios in an
article in “Connaissance des Arts”, September 1976, pp. 11-13, citing Pierre Verlet, who discovered documents
dated 1788 from the Sèvres porcelain factory, stating that Thomire provided the mounts for Marie-Antoinette’s
clock. González-Palacios lists other similar models that are signed by Thomire; one was formerly owned by Pauline
Bonaparte-Borghese (now in the British Embassy, Paris). The model derived from an engraving after Hubert
Robert, published by the Abbé de Saint-Non in Recueil des Griffonis, 1771-73. In 1790 Jean Démosthène Dugourc
(1749-1825), one of the most famous French ornamentalists of the late eighteenth century, produced a design for
Madame Adélaïde’s bedroom that featured an identical clock (reproduced in Dumonthier, see above).
Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1757-1853) was the most important Parisian bronzier of the last quarter of the 18th
century and the first decades of the following century. Early on in his career he worked for Pierre Gouthière,
ciseleur-fondeur du roi, and toward the mid-1770’s began working with Louis Prieur. He later became one of the
bronziers attached to the Manufacture Royale de Sèvres, creating the bronze mounts for most of the important
creations of the day. After the Revolution, he purchased the stock of Martin-Eloi Lignereux, thus becoming the most
important suppliers of furniture bronzes for châteaux and Imperial Palaces. In addition, he worked for a wealthy
private clientele, both French and foreign, including several of Napoleon’s Marshals. Thomire retired in 1823.
Edme-Portail Barbichon was a fine enamellist, active during the latter half of the eighteenth century. His name is
always associated with the finest clocks and makers, including Ferdinand Berthoud and Charles Bertrand.
Artist Biography :
Royal clockmaker Pierre-Claude Raguet, known as Raguet-Lépine after his father-in-law Jean-Antoine I Lépine,
with whom he worked closely, he was born in Dôle, and in 1782 married Jean-Antoine’s daughter Pauline. Having
already invested 16,000 livres in his future father-in law’s business, he purchased a third share in 1783 and
eventually took over the business in June 1784, using the name Lépine à Paris, Horloger du Roi. Raguet-Lépine
was a member of the jury responsible for choosing a new Republican time system (1793); in 1805 he became
Horloger breveté de Sa Majesté l’Impératrice-Reine, and four years later was named Horloger de l’Impératrice
Joséphine. His clientele included Napoleon I, Jérôme, King of Westphalia, Charles IV King of Spain, the princes
Talleyrand, Kourakine (the Russian Ambassador) Schwarzenberg (the Austrian Ambassador), the comte de
Provence and Louis XV’s daughters at the Château de Bellevue.
Due to his success he employed a large workforce, including several of his relatives: Jean-Antoine II Lépine who
managed the workshop, Jean-Louis Lépine in Geneva and Jacques Lépine in Kassel, Germany. His cases were
supplied by the renowned bronziers Pierre-Philippe Thomire, F. Rémond, F. Vion, E. Martincourt, the Feuchères
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and Duports; his dials by such fine enamellists as Coteau, Dubuisson, Cave, Merlet and Barbichon. Today RaguetLépine’s work may be seen in the Louvre, the Château de Compiègne, the British Royal Collection, the Musée
International d’Horlogerie at La Chaux-de-Fonds, the Deutsches Uhrenmuseum Furtwangen, the Schloss
Wilhemshöhe Kassel, the Patrimonio Nacional in Spain, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Detroit Institute of
Arts and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
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