PENDULUM CLOCK
gilded antimony
In the wake of the fashion that previously characterized Romanticism, themes of history, contemporary life and popular tales began to influence the style of table clocks in the last quarter of the 19th century. As can be seen from this clock where a young lady is depicted reading intently, the usual classical repertoire is no longer adopted during the Second Empire, and the stylistic rigor dictated by ancient canons is dropped.
New themes became popular and were treated with a tendentially Rococo taste, ornate and excessive, to which, however were added new elements. Eclecticism pervaded every form of art during this period, moving away from styles developed during the Ancien Régime and toward the demands and tastes of the emerging bourgeoisie class.
France, last quarter of the 19th century
cm 53 height
