"Odalisque" after James Pradier

Carrara marble case with gilt bronze applied, the bronze statue representing the Odalisque from James Pradier (1790-1852), with two different coloured patinas: medium brown colour for the flesh, and dark brown for the hair and all clothing and accessories (turban, flowers and fan).
The running signature of Pradier is on the cloth just above the dial.
French movement, made from an ébauche by Vincenti & Cie. Brocot-type half-rollers self-levelling escapement with steel suspension, countwheel strike on a single silvered bell, two-week autonomy.
Enamel dial with the signature Mazilier à Metz, with Roman numerals for the hours. Club-style gilt hands, domed glass and pearled gilt bezel.
Our clock holds the bronze reduction of the famous James Pradier Odalisque, the marble original is exhibited in the Lyon Fine Arts Museum. It was exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1841 under the N° 2018.
This type of subject was rarely sculpted. We have here a young naked woman, seated on the ground while her clothing slipped and lies underneath her. Her turban and her fan indicate her status as being in a harem. Even if her beauty recalls that of the Venus of the Antiquity, her lascivious and sensual pose is more reminiscent of Oriental women. Through the twisting of her body and the way the different volumes are exploited here, the spiral motif of her turban, the odalisque invites the spectator to walk around her to discover and admire the insolent beauty of her body.
The exotic character of the subject allowed the sculptor to gain a free rein away from the classic norms of his day’s sculpture standards, and so he had his own way with the representation of this nude.
From 1840 onwards, Pradier used the theme of the Odalisque to draw and to create some bronze statues. Pradier often then put those bronzes on the market to test the public’s interest, before creating the larger marble version. This production allowed for bronzes to be sold as purely decorative art, and in particular as decorations for clocks.