A French patinated and gilt bronze 'au bon sauvage' mantel clock, first half 19th C.

H 36 - L 28 - D 11 cm 

The figure also known as 'Le Savoyard antillais' or 'Le porteur de balle de coton'.

The dial marked 'A. Verdière à Paris'. 

The work inscribed with the number '50'.

At the end of the 18th C., the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau introduced the concept of the 'noble savage' (le bon sauvage). These noble savages also appeared in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's novel 'Paul et Virgine' and Chateaubriand's 'Atala' and were very popular at the time. This inspired a number of bronzers who designed the 'au bon sauvage' clocks. 

Ref.:

- P.G. Chabert, 'La pendule au 'Nègre'', Saint-Omer, Muséé de l'Hotel Sandelin, 1977, pp. 12-13, n° 5.

- P. Kjellberg, 'Encyclopédie de la pendule française du Moyen Age au XX siècle, Paris, 1997, p. 343, ill. D.

- J.-D. Augarde, 'Une odyssée en pendules. Chef-d'oeuvres de la Collection Parnassia, Dijon, II, 2022, pp. 444-445, n°. 122.