Antoine-André Ravrio started his career during l’Ancien Régime. Despite the difficulties during the French Revolution, he soon managed to establish a successful bronze foundry, specialising in items such as garnitures, sets, in fire-gilt bronze. In this figurative clock, a famous ancient Hellenistic bust of Homer has been incorporated into a narrative scene with the Roman poet Virgil. Ravrio himself was an acclaimed poet and writer of comedies.