Elephant Automoaton Clock, Augsburh, c.1600-10 (silvered bronze, enamelled silver & gilt-bronze)

The clock is in the form of an elephant, with a howdah in the form of a castle tower, with four turbaned soldiers with raised scimitars which rotate around the tower, there are two enameled dials and two glass dials through which the clock works are visible, the elephant’s eyes move and he is accompanied by two mahouts, one riding on his back and a second walking alongside, all on a naturalistically-cast ground on a silver-mounted ebony and ebonized pearwood veneered base over an oak carcass, which encloses further mechanics which propel the automaton forward in a slight circle, the works are currently partially non-functioning but are largely intact and, with restoration, will almost certainly be able to function and detailed condition reports are available upon request.