Ethiopian Caterpillar

Ethiopian Caterpillar. Attributable to the workshop of Piguet et Capt, Geneva, circa 1805, probably retailed by Maillardet. Extremely fine and rare 18K gold and enamel, pearl- , diamond- , ruby- , emerald- , and turquoise-set automaton caterpillar, in fitted leather box. In the form of a caterpillar, whose body is made up of 11 graduated segments, the top of each of translucent scarlet enamel over flinqué set with a different combination of pearls, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and turquoises, each segment terminated by a row of split pearls, the underside in black champlevé enamel with a gold pattern, the head decorated with black champlevé enamel. Brass, shaped, with fixed barrel, the 5-wheel train terminating with 4-wing fly governor. A cam sitting on the extension of the second wheel moves two levers up and down, resulting in a very realistic crawling motion, small knurled steel wheels running via contrate wheel meshing with the second wheel pinion, make the caterpillar move forward.Dim: Length 70 mm, thickness: 15 mm in the middle. Notes Only five of these mechanical caterpillars are known: 1. With pearls and turquoises, Sandoz Collection. 2. With pearls in two rows, formerly in the Iklé Collection (Saint-Gall). 3. Sandoz Collection, similar to this one, formerly in the Franck Collection (Paris). 4. With turquoises, now in the Patek Philippe Museum, sold by Antiquorum on Oct 19, 1997, lot 654. The present one.The crawling motion of the caterpillar is produced ingenio