The French term for longcase clocks. They were never as popular in France as in England, but some magnificent examples were made, the cases often by distinguished 閎閚istes. Pendules longue ligne were cased in wood long after smaller clocks had abandoned wood in favour of gilt bronze, marble or porcelain. The earliest varieties, c. 1670, take the form of a religieuse above a shaped body. Gradually the suggestion of separation between hook and trunk died out and by the 1740s they had developed into the full rococo form of the clock by Jean Charost, cased by Jean Pierre Latz. From the mid 18th century the longcase form was used for r間ulateurs by such makers as Ferdinand Berthoud and Pierre Le Roy, the form and decoration of the cases becoming more severe but no less handsome, to match the dignity of their movements with gridiron pendulums, specialist escapements and other refinements. Comtoise clocks and Normande clocks were provincial versions of the pendule longue ligne.