With the figure of Harlequin holding the clock case which is modelled as a dovecote with a dove perched at the top, on a shaped rectangular white marble base with scrolling foliate frieze, on foliate turned bun feet, the white enamel dial signed 'LEPAUTE / HGR DU ROY / PARIS' the backplate engraved '781'
13¹⁄₂ in. (34.5 cm.) high, 10 in. (25.5 cm.) wide, 4¹⁄₂ in. (11.5 cm.) deep

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild (1827-1905), in the Salon Vert, hôtel Saint-Florentin, Paris.
Confiscated from the above by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg following the Nazi occupation of France in May 1940 (ERR no. R 4502).
Recovered by the Monuments Fine Arts and Archives Section from the Altaussee salt mines, Austria (no. 1013), and transferred to the Munich Central Collecting Point, 27 June 1945 (MCCP no. 1214).
Returned to France on 2 March 1946 and restituted to the Rothschild family.
By descent to the present owners.

The Rothschild Archive, London, Inventaire après le décès de Monsieur le Baron Alphonse de Rothschild, A. Cottin Notaire, 16 October 1905 (hôtel Saint-Florentin, Salon Vert, ‘Pendule Arlequin XVIIIe siècle - 500 francs’).

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Lot Essay

This charming and colorful clock depicts a masked Harlequin figure peeking around the face of a Comtoise clock, holding his finger to his lips in an effort to quiet the startled bird perched in the niche above the clock dial. Arising from the popular Italian Commedia dell’arte, the Harlequin was a zanni, or wily and comic servant that has roots as far back as the sixteenth century. His ‘zany’ antics among an ensemble troupe performance were wildly popular across Italy and France. Easily identifiable by his colorful diamond-pieced clothing, mask and hat, rustic and noble viewers alike would instantly recognize the lovable pastiche of a roguish attendant.

Spelled both Le Paute and Lepaute, this celebrated dynasty of horlogers was founded by Jean-André (1720-1789 ) in 1740. He settled in Paris and was appointed horloger du Roi with lodgings in the Luxembourg Palace. His innovative ideas, such as the échappement repos of 1753, as well as his writings, including an impressive Traité d'Horlogerie, published in 1755, earned him the title maître and lodgings at the Louvre by 1759. His brother, Jean-Baptiste (1727-1802), also became horloger du Roi and succeeded him in the Galeries du Louvre lodgings in 1775 after taking over the business in 1774. Jean-Baptiste retired in 1789, giving way to his two nephews.

For further examples of this model see Elke Niehüser, French Bronze Clocks, 1700-1830, Munich, 1999, p. 168 and Christie’s, London, 10 July 2008, lot 32.