The mechanical galleon
Augsburg, South Germany, around AD 1585
Automated clock in the form of a 'nef', or
galleon, by Hans Schlottheim
There was a great fascination for automated machines at the end
of the sixteenth century, particularly at the courts of Rudolf II
in Prague and Süleyman 'the Magnificent' in Constantinople. Hans
Schlottheim of Augsburg (1545-1625) was one of the most famous
makers of these machines.
This gilt-copper and steel automaton was designed to trundle
along a grand table to announce a banquet. It takes the form of a
nef, or medieval galleon, with sailors wielding hammers to strike
the hours and quarters on bells in the crows nests. It also shows
the time on a dial at the bottom of the main mast. Music is played
on a small regal organ and a drum skin stretched over the base of
the hull. The Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, led by heralds,
process before their Emperor seated on a throne beneath the main
mast. As a grand finale, it fires its cannons to produce a wonder
of noise and smoke to entertain the guests.
Although for many years, this clock was said to have belonged to
Emperor Rudolf II himself, it is now thought that it might be the
one described in an inventory of the Kunstkammer of the Elector of
Saxony in Dresden in about 1585.
