Automaton clock in the form of a lion

Clockmaker: Karl Schmidt German

Not on view

The rampant lion, an animal with strong heraldic connotations, must have been a successful model for several types of automata, to judge from the number of surviving examples. The eyes and mouth of this automaton are set in motion when the clock strikes the hour. The piece was in use long enough to have been fitted with a short pendulum sometime after its invention in the second half of the seventeenth century.

Automaton clock in the form of a lion, Clockmaker: Karl Schmidt (German, ca. 1590–1635/36, working 1614), Case: gilded brass and gilded silver on a base of ebony, and ebony veneered on fruitwood; Dial: silvered brass; Movement: iron and brass, German, Augsburg

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Automaton clock in the form of a lion, Clockmaker: Karl Schmidt (German, ca. 1590–1635/36, working 1614), Case: gilded brass and gilded silver on a base of ebony, and ebony veneered on fruitwood; Dial: silvered brass; Movement: iron and brass, German, Augsburg
Automaton clock in the form of a lion, Clockmaker: Karl Schmidt (German, ca. 1590–1635/36, working 1614), Case: gilded brass and gilded silver on a base of ebony, and ebony veneered on fruitwood; Dial: silvered brass; Movement: iron and brass, German, Augsburg

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