The name THURET on the front of this clock refers to Jacques Thuret, clockmaker to Louis XIV, who from 1695 was responsible for maintaining all the clocks of the royal buildings in both Paris and Versailles. Thuret worked closely with the cabinetmaker André-Charles Boulle, who probably made the clock case. The clock's design is based on an existing full-size drawing by the architect and designer Gilles-Marie Oppenord (1672-1742).