Such decorative bronze mantelpiece garniture, executed in the French antique manner with nymphs attended by Cupid, God of Love, as teacher or pupil, would generally accompany a figurative clock such as those executed by the Parisian bronze-manufacturer Pierre-Philippe Thomire (d.1843) (H. Ottomeyer, P. Pröschel et al., Vergoldete Bronzen, vol. I, Munich, 1986, no. 5.5.13). The models 'Leçon à l'Amour' and 'Leçon de l'Amour' feature in Sèvres biscuit for the year 1794 (E. Bourgeois, Le Biscuit de Sèvres, Paris, (n.d), nos. 383 and 384). A marble, ormolu and Sèvres biscuit mantel clock in the Huntington Collection has these figures flanking the clock case (illustrated in R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, Pasadena, 3rd. ed., 1979, p. 119, fig. S).
Recalling sacrifices at Love's altar, their marble plinths are embellished with golden pearl-strings and bas-relief medallions of sacrificial scenes. One of these Wedgwood blue-dip Jasperware reliefs shows the Roman nobleman, Mucius Scaevola thrusting his hand into the flames of an altar fire. Mistakenly killing King Porsena's secretary, instead of the king himself, he thrust his right hand into the flames of an altar fire to show how cheaply he held his life. In paintings of the Renaissance and later, Macius stands for the virtues of patience and constancy. The other relief, incorporating trident-bearing Neptune, also features on a satinwood cabinet attributed to George Seddon of Aldergate Street sold from the collection of the late Joe Blanchard, Sotheby's London, 3 May 1996, lot 10. Such objets d'art relate to the fashion introduced to London by Parisian marchand merciers, such as Dominique Daguerre (d.1796) of Sloane Street.