This clock brings to the table - or, rather, mantle - the full suite of iconography for a subject that must’ve come as a welcome relief to the French after the trauma of the Revolution and the Napoleonic age, but in addition to the gentle and intimate theme of Venus with her young charge Cupid, this clock could only have been created in the Restauration Era following Napoleon: the style is Neoclassical, but has been extended in a very post-Neoclassical (too many prefixes?) manner typical of the 1820s. The dial, for example, has been detailed to an almost Gothic degree, and the base has been so heavily festooned with classical vegetal elements that it’s begun to take on an almost Rococo impression - and indeed the Neogothic and Neorococo styles were to have their day as the nineteenth century wore on.
The fire gilding has aged over the last 200 years to a specular patina of matte, brilliant, and verdigris. Note the subtle interplay of coloration on the flat parts of the base.
Measures: 480 x 388 x 150 mm
This clock brings to the table - or, rather, mantle - the full suite of iconography for a subject that must’ve come as a welcome relief to the French after the trauma of the Revolution and the Napoleonic age, but in addition to the gentle and intimate theme of Venus with her young charge Cupid, this clock could only have been created in the Restauration Era following Napoleon: the style is Neoclassical, but has been extended in a very post-Neoclassical (too many prefixes?) manner typical of the 1820s. The dial, for example, has been detailed to an almost Gothic degree, and the base has been so heavily festooned with classical vegetal elements that it’s begun to take on an almost Rococo impression - and indeed the Neogothic and Neorococo styles were to have their day as the nineteenth century wore on.
The fire gilding has aged over the last 200 years to a specular patina of matte, brilliant, and verdigris. Note the subtle interplay of coloration on the flat parts of the base.
Measures: 480 x 388 x 150 mm