REGULATEUR DE PARQUET A SONNERIE DES QUARTS, REMONTOIR D'EGALITE ET EQUATION, ROBERT ROBIN, PARIS, vers 1790

enamel dial (diameter 23 cm) signed Dubuisson, and with traces of Robin's over-painted signature, concentric hands for seconds, equation and date, the calendar incorporating the zodiac symbols; the timepiece movement signed ROBIN H^{GER DU ROI} (Robin, Clockmaker to the King), high count two wheel train with Robin's remontoire and Graham-type steel deadbeat escapement with jewelled pallets and depth adjustment, the second wheel running in anti-friction rollers at the rear, the equation work concealed between the dial and dial plate, separately suspended massive grid-iron pendulum with knife-edge suspension, fine regulation and beat adjustment on the crutch, two levers at the top of the movement lead to two additional concealed mechanisms above, the right hand movement, similarly signed ROBIN H^{GER DU ROI}  for the striking train with massive spring barrel, outside count wheel and striking on two bells, the left hand movement with twin spring barrels for re-winding the remontoire, the outside pulley wheel with anti-friction rollers; case with concave moulded flat top above a corbel and dentil moulded cornice with sliding panel concealing the winding apertures, glazed trunk with leaf cast gilt bezel and panelled plinth.

Collection Marcel Mennesson et par descendance aux propriétaires actuels

Condition: Dial has minor scratches throughout and an edge chip at IX. Movements are complete and just running at time of cataloguing but all very dirty and very much in need of of cleaning and service, appears to retain original wheelwork throughout. Case has old cracks, dents marks and minor losses throughout, door detached due to faulty hinge/slight warping to case, glass panels in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Developed during the early 1780s, their characteristics described in the pamphlet Description d'une pendule à secondes ou Machine pour mesurer le tems avec la plus grande exactitude (1782), long-case regulators became a constant of Robin's production. Nevertheless only some three others are known. One is in the Musée Paul Dupuy, Toulouse, dated 1792 (see Michel Hayard, Chefs-d'oeuvre de l'horlogerie ancienne. Collection du Musée Paul Dupuy de Toulouse, Paris & Toulouse, 2004, p. 274-76) from the Edouard Gélis donation; the second, until lately in the Justice Shepro Collection, Illinois USA, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 26 April 2001, lot 145. The third, made for Marie Antoinette in 1787, is preserved in the collections of the château of Versailles. It is interesting to note that all three employ the same motto on the thermometer scale as Janvier used on that of the regulator given to Lhuillier. For a description of Robin's remontoire with its 'simple and ingenious arrangement of the pullies', see S. Lenormand, Nouveau manuel de l'horloger (new edition in 3 vols, by E. E. Stahl, Paris, 1896), t.I, p. 166-8 and plate IV fig. 1, a work in the writing of the original edition of which Janvier had collaborated. For Robin, see Hélène Stima, 'Robert Robin, un horloger de la Cour de Louis XVI à l'aube de la Révolution française', Horlogerie ancienne, 67, 2010, p. 7-33.