17x13x4.5 In.

This striking mantel clock captures the European fascination with the “Orientalist” imagination. Cast in dark-finished metal, its surface treated to resemble bronze, the case is surmounted by a turbaned horseman, poised mid-stride on a rearing horse. The dramatic figure sits above a circular enamel dial with Roman numerals, set into a rococo-inspired base ornamented with scrolls, latticework, and floral sprays.

Such clocks were produced in France during the height of the Orientalist vogue, when imagery of the Near East, North Africa, and India animated painting, sculpture, and decorative objects. More than mere timekeepers, they served as conversation pieces in bourgeois salons, where their theatrical figures evoked distant lands and imperial adventure.

Preserved in the Mangaldas estate, this example embodies both the artistry and the cultural currents of its time: a domestic clock transformed into a miniature stage, uniting horology with sculpture.

The movement bears the mark of Japy Frères, commemorating a Bronze Medal won at a late 19th-century exhibition.

As Is, Non-exportable

Provenance: The Estate of Mangaldas Nathubhai