13 May 1800

1885

19th century

Henry Lepaute

The son of Pierre Henry (1745-1806), clock- and watch-maker, nephew of Jean-André Lepaute (1720-1789) and Jean-Baptiste Lepaute (1729-1802) by their sister Elizabeth. Augustin-Michel Henry was himself trained as a clock-maker in the workshop of his uncle Jean-J ?oseph Lepaute. In the early 1820s he worked with Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788-1827) on the development of a smooth acting drive-clock for Fresnel's new segmental mirrors for lighthouse lights which required a regular rotation. Henry developed a clock-movement controlled by a Watt-type centrifugal force governor, completing the first model in 1825. Shortly before Fresnel's death, Henry began to manufacture the mirrors to be rotated as well, developing this field of activity until in 1838 it was sufficiently important to be established as a separate division of his company. Along with the lights produced by Soleil (q.v.), Henry's enjoyed a very high reputation and considerable success over 2500 of them alone being exported by 1872. This success was in part owed to Henry's excellent workshop equipment. 'L'outillage puissant de ce fabricant distingué lui permet de faire mieux et à plus bas prix que qui que ce soit dans ce genre de travail'.1
In 1834 Augustin-Michel Henry married his second cousin Anaïs Lepaute daughter of Jean-Joseph Lepaute dit Collignon whose business he carried on under the trading name of 'Henry neveu Lepaute'. In the same year he obtained a silver medal for a remontoire clock striking the quarter hours by a single wheel. On 27 April 1845 he was named a chevalier of the Legion d'Honneur.2 In 1849, following the death of Pierre-Michel Lepaute his business was also combined with those already directed by Henry and in 1854 the rights of other members of the family in Pierre-Michel's business were ceded to Augustin-Michel. The same year he obtained by decree of Napoleon III the right to associate in perpetuity the name Lepaute with his own. During the second half of the century, the company Henry-Lepaute continued a double production of lighthouse lights and horology adapting the latter branch to exploit the possibilities of electricity. The firm, as Henry Lepaute fils, exhibited at the 1881 International Electricity Exhibition,3 and the exploitation of electricity led at the end of the century to diversification into such items as railway and tramway brakes, lifts, dumb-waiters and taximeters. Compasses were also made, or at least retailed.4 In the early 20th century this diversification continued into telecommunication materials and instruments such as the 'trolleyphone' the 'reno-phones' and electronic tools such as the 'vibrograph' a tester for horological movements. Before 1897 Henry-Lepaute had also absorbed the old established horological business of Niot.
In 1849 Augustin-Michel purchased the château Belloy at Mesnil-le-Roi and here the family lived until 1917. The maison Henry-Lepaute was directed from 1862-67 onwards by the two sons of Augustin-Michel, Édouard Léon (1838-1909) who directed the optical works, and Paul-Joseph (1843-1897) who controlled the horological activity. The 9 April 1890 building permission was received for the construction of workshop and dwelling house rue Desnouettes with extensions in 1910 and 1913. Edouard-Léon and Paul-Joseph were succeeded by their sons André (1871-1908) and Marcel (1875-1944) and thereafter by the son of André, Michel (1904-). In 1927 an exhibition was devoted to the works of the Lepaute family at the Musée National de Malmaison.5 Despite the sale of Belloy in 1917, the family retained an interest in Mesnil and it was here that in 1952 a small factory was built to replace that of Fougerolles destroyed by bombing in 1944. The timing of the construction was fortuitous as earlier in the same year (1952) the company's headquarters and workshops rue Desnouettes, Paris (15e) had been totally destroyed by fire.
Augustin-Michel was a generous resident of his commune advancing 6000 francs in 18 for three years to help in the contruction of a road leading towards Le Pecq, but receiving interest at 5% only during the final year of the loan. In 1881 the Etablissements Lepaute presented a clock for installation in the town hall, clock for the maintenance of which, together with that of the parish church, they continued to be responsible. In 1949 the Technical Director of the company was M. Salomon-Lagagneur. In 1957 the Etablissements Lepaute passed into the control of CGE, a subsidiary company of the Alcatel group to become in 1960, CGEI-Lepaute.6






6 Alcatel, 468. See further on the Lepaute-Henry family Bertrand; Matthey-Claudet; Dennaud.

1 Laboulaye, iii art 'Phare' which see for a description of the Henry workshop.
2 Beillard 171.
3 Cat 1881 44 N° 631.
4 Randier-Turner 18. 12. 86 lot 281.
5 Musée Nationale de Malmaison. Exposition de l'Été 1927. Horlogers du roi et de l'Empereur, les Lepaute et les Henry-Lepaute..., Malmaison, 1927.

Horloges électriques, distribution de l'heure, appareils électriquesde controle, n.d. [c. 1930]
Applications de l'horlogerie électrique dans les Centrales de distribution d"énergie, n.d. [c. 1940]

17 23 rue Desnouettes Paris 15

1844 Paris Industrie Nationale Gold medal

1849 Paris Industrie Nationale Gold medal (rappel)

Lampe stroboscopique ann

1957

ark:/18469/1q36d