Pierre Gavelle

The clockmaker Pierre Gavelle (who signed “Gavelle l’aîné”), was the son of Jean-Jacques Gavelle and the brother of Maurice-Jacques Gavelle, also clockmakers in Paris. All three were active in Paris during the second half of the 18^th century. After becoming a master, on September 4, 1771, he worked in his father’s workshop until 1787, then opened a workshop in rue Saint-Denis, moving to the rue des Juifs in 1801 (see Tardy, Dictionnaire des horlogers français, Paris, 1971, p. 251). A deputy of the guild in 1785, he became rather well-known and several of his clocks were mentioned during the early decades of the 19^th century, as belonging to Parisian collectors of the day, including the printer Jacques Delatynna and Alexandre-Pierre-Louis Deherain, Counsellor to the Paris Appellate Court.