Triumphal-Chariot Clock with Automata - inv. 1149

The case of this clock, known as The Chariot of Diana, has the form of a triumphal chariot. It is made of ebony, with gilt bronze wheels and silver friezes. Diana, the goddess of the hunt, is seated on a throne in the act of shooting an arrow. Two panthers draw the cart and a monkey is seated behind. Two silver dials are set at the sides of the throne, one for the hours and one for the sounding mechanism. They are decorated with polychrome enamels of flowers and birds. As an inner spring drives the wheels of the chariot, the two panthers rise and fall, simulating a bounding movement, and their heads rotate, as do Diana’s eyes and the monkey’s head.