The figures are part of a larger model composed of ten, made circa 1775-1778 by Augustin Pajou after a drawing of the architect Claude Billard de Bélisard for the Prince de Condé. According to the bronzier Feuchère, the model was invented for the duchesse de Mazarin by Pajou and Martincourt with a movement by Lepaute. A related mantel clock is in the Metropolitan Museum (inv. 17.190.2126), fully documented in the catalogue of the Pajou exhibition published in 1997 (op. cit.). Other example belongs to the Hermitage in St Petersburg, formely in the Youssoupov collection.