Louis-François Déliau

This clockmaker whose signature was “Déliau à Paris” was little-known for a long time. Louis-François Déliau appears to have begun working shortly before the Revolution. He went bankrupt during the Revolution and ceased working. A clock bearing his signature, dated May 1796, was in the collection of Jean Lanchère de Vaux (1727-1805). The French National Archives contain several documents concerning him, including a “Notice” dated 26 brumaire, year 11 (November 17, 1802) which was a request that Louis-François Déliau’s residence be permanently recorded as being in Paris. In that document he was described as a deserter who had been pardoned, and who had been forcibly enrolled in the Napoleonic troops. At that time he was a horological polisher, which shows that he continued to work in the field of horology.