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OSSIAN, THE GREATEST POET WHO NEVER EXISTED

and the Decorative Art Ossian Inspired
The blind poet Ossian playing his harp to summon the gods.
In 1760, the English writer and historian James McPherson published the first translations of the work of the Gaelic poet Ossian. Ossian, not only the teller of the tales but a major figure in them, lived during the early years of the third century, about 200AD. Relating these stories when old and blind, they revolve around his father Fingal, his dead son Oscar, and Oscar's lover Malvina. They interweave personal tragedies with the fight to form a nation and free the region from Roman occupation. They became one of the earliest and most popular texts that inspired romantic nationalism over the following century. Napoleon and Diderot were prominent admirers, and Thomas Jefferson thought Ossian "the greatest poet that has ever existed.” They were proclaimed as a Celtic equivalent of the Classical writers such as Homer. The name Oscar became common for the sons of royalty, and in places as far away as Alabama in the United States, a town, Selma, was named after the birthplace of Ossian’s father Fingal. In France, the enthusiasm of Napoleon for the poems accounts for most artistic depictions, and certainly those by the most famous artists. For instance, take the high romanticized image of “Ossian Awaking the Spirits on the Banks of the Lora” by Francois Gerard (pictured under the heading). The commission for this painting was given to Gérard in 1801 for the decoration of the small palace of Malmaison, which Napoleon was having furnished for his own use. Two paintings on the subject of Ossian flanked the chimney breast in the reception room. The other was painted by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Trioson. They were the only paintings praised by Napoleon and not without reason. Eventually the subject passed to the decorative arts including clocks, with the Gerard painting as the model.
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I am aware of two examples. The first, shown above, was sold at Seldart Auction house in Spain in 2023 with an estimate of Euro 20,000 to 25,000. It is in perfect condition with a very surprising complication movement almost never found in sculptural clocks of the period. Louis Philippe period (circa 1825), it is stamped, L.F., an unidentified maker. It is 29” tall.
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The second example, shown above, is less complex mechanically but sculpturally quite similar. It is of the same period but has no identifying marks. I purchased it at an Eve Paris auction in September 2026. It is 28” tall.
But as with all good stories, there is a twist. Ten years after the death of McPherson (d. 1796), proof was uncovered that the poems were likely his own forgeries based upon fragments of Scottish and Irish sagas. The claim was contested, and Ossian’s popularity remained high till the mid-19th century. A funny aside. One of McPherson’s most ferocious detractors, when asked if any other man besides Ossian could have written works of such quality, replied, “Yes, other men, women and some children.”