Cupid pendule

Ships from The Netherlands

Limburg Antiquairs
Premier Seller
Name
Cupid pendule
Measurements
Height: 36 cm, Width: 22 cm, Depth: 14 cm
Reference
LIMA100988
Categories
Decorative Arts Clocks Mantel Clocks
Periods
18th Century Antique Empire, 1815
Description

The subject depicts Cupid with his attributes – bow and quiver – carrying the night away.

He bears the night sky on his shoulder, held in place by a veil.

In Greek and Roman mythology, the goddess of the night, Nyx/Nox, is often depicted with a dark veil, sometimes studded with stars, symbolising the arrival of night.

The replacement of the figure of Nox with a Cupid alludes to Ovid’s verse on triumphant love, ‘Amor Vincit Omnia’, as he carries night and Time with him.

Here, Cupid presents himself as the ruler of the cosmos.

 

French Empire period, circa 1815.

 

A similar model is illustrated in the book:

Niehuser, *Die französische Bronzesuhr: eine Typologie der figurlichen Darstellung*, Munich, 1997. Illustration p. 113

 

 

 

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