Automaton Twin Turret Submarine

A rare silvered, lacquered and gilt-brass clockwork automaton of a twin turret French submarine, movement no. 5440. Installed on a green onyx base, the hull is fitted with a ram and encloses key-wound clockwork that causes the turrets to revolve, the propeller to spin and the rudder to move. One turret displays an aneroid barometer and the other a clock. The twin funnels have thermometers with Fahrenheit and Centigrade scales, the capstan incorporating a compass.