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Henri Maillardet's "Ethiopian caterpillar," which sold at Sotheby's in Geneva in 2010 for $415,215.



  Gem-set caterpillar automaton shows off sophisticated early 19th century technology


January 12, 2013


The concept in and of itself is still stunning - a functional robot constructed from gold, diamonds, peals and colored gemstones, that mimics the movement of a caterpillar. What is even more amazing is that it was built almost 200 years ago using watchmakers' technology.

The caterpillar is an automaton, which is derived from the Greek word that describes "acting of one's own will". These are non-electronic machines that typically resemble human or animal actions.

Among the automaton masters of the early 19th century was the Swiss watchmaker Henri Maillardet. Born in 1745, he worked much of his career in London producing clocks and various automata, including a device that could write in both French and English.

Maillardet's "Ethiopian caterpillar" was produced in partnership with watchmaker Jaquet Droz. Only six are known to exist and five are in prestigious collections in Europe, including one in the Patek Philippe museum. It is also referred to as "Vers de soie," which means a "silkworm" and it is believed to have been designed for the Chinese royal court of Qianlong.

The most recent sale of Ethiopian Caterpillar by Maillardet took place at a Sotheby's auction in Geneva in the fall of 2010, where it was bought by an Asian buyer for $415,215.

The auctioned automaton comprised 11 jointed ring segments, framed by seed pearls, and decorated with translucent red enamel over an engine-turned ground, studded overall with gold-set rubies, turquoise, emeralds and diamonds. Its underside was decorated with champlevé black enamel.

As explained by Sotheby's, "when the automaton movement is engaged, the caterpillar crawls realistically, its body moving up and down simulating the undulations of a caterpillar by means of a set of gilt-metal knurled wheels. The automata work is composed of a barrel, cam and two leavers all working together to create the crawling motion."

To see the Ethiopian Caterpillar in motion, please CLICK HERE .

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