A French exoticism 1820/40's gilt bronze mantel clock.

The Europeans' fascination with foreign continents took different expressions in the art and decorative arts during the 1700s and 1800s. In the literature Jean-Jacques Rousseau gave the idea of the "good savage". The civilization pessimist romanticists dreamed of the unspoilt ideal state of nature, which they believed to be found in the African and American indigenous peoples. During the 1700s and 1800s a variety of mantel clocks were made on this theme with figures that were often depicted in different work situations associated with world-wide trade. The lot with a female hunter also adheres to a European tradition in the art of depicting the hunter Diana, but here, as an American Indian.