Mantel Clock Empire period Ormolu Cupid as Honeythief confronted by Venus after the model by Claude Galle France ca. 1810
Dimensions: H45 W34 D12 cm.
Weight ca. 9 kgs. Condition overall good, some wear and fatigue on the gilding of the base. The quiver of Cupid next to the beehive is missing.
Beautiful dial with enamel gilt colour touches.
Conceived by Claude Galle, France ca. 1810
Cupid when stealing honey gets stung by a bee and seeks comfort with his mother Venus. But she reprimands him and tells him that people feel similar hurt when his arrows hit them.
The relief on the base shows Cupid picking roses and refers to the proverb there is no rose without a thorn. It goes back to the emblemata by Otto van Veen (1556-1629), collected in the title: ''Amorum emblemata".