Antoine Beckers
Clockmaker
Antoine Beckers (sometimes spelled Bekers) is one of the most important Parisian clockmakers of the early years of the reign of Louis XVI. He signed “Beckers à Paris”. After becoming a master on May 31, 1775, he opened workshops successively in the rue des Cordeliers, then the rue Guénégaud from 1777 to 1779 (see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, 1971, p. 37). He soon gained renown among Parisian collectors of luxury horology. Several of his clocks are mentioned by the late 18th century as having belonged to influential collectors; examples are those mentioned in the probate inventory of the widow of Louis-Auguste de Sonning, formerly Receveur-général of finances for the city of Paris, and in the inventory of François-Martial, Count de Choiseul-Beaupré.
