Pneumantic chirping birds automaton by the ancient Greeks

The design of this piece is usually attributed to Hero of Alexandria, though the web site from which this comes attributes it to another great inventor form antiquity, Philo of

About the owl and bird automaton:

For the operation of the automaton, water from a spring was driven inside the upper airtight container forcing the air to leave through a pipe. Because the pipe-flute led to water, the oscillating wavelength produced a chirp with notes of different frequency. Then when the water level exceeded the curved siphon of the container, it emptied through it to the intermediate container, diverting a yoke to the side. This forced the built-in rotating shaft supporting the owl to turn towards the birds that then stopped chirping. When the water level exceeded the axial siphon of the intermediate container, it emptied through to the lower container, diverting the yoke towards its counterweight, which caused the owl to turn away from the birds that then began to sing again, etc.

This is quite a beautiful reproduction!

See more great inventions on this site about ancient Greek technology.

[ Thanks again, Thomas!]

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Fantastic musical automaton clock of an elephant worth £1.4 million

Check out this ormolu musical automaton clock by Peter Torckler. The piece was part of an auction held at Sotheby's in July of 2012. This beautiful machine is dated to around 1780 and was intended for a market in China with whom London had developed an impressive trade relationship. The piece was estimated to be worth £1,000,000 to £2,000,000 prior to the auction and found a buyer right in the middle of the range at £1.4 million.

A bejeweled whirligig spins above the animal. Below that, a figure of the Greek god Atlas, holds up a rotating sphere of the heavens. The elephant figure sits on a rockwork base inset with the clock dial. The automaton depicts an Asian elephant whose trunk, eyes, ears, and tail all move in appropriate ways. Below that, a small animated scene depicts falling water, tiny windmills, and spinning waterwheels. The musical movement, which will play a choice of six tunes, is hidden within the lower section.

[ Thanks Thomas! ]

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Wiggly Mustache Portrait by Gary Schott features kinetic facial hair

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre is now offering the work of automaton artist Gary Schott. If you are unfamiliar with his work, check out this lovely video profile of Gary Schott that I posted some time ago.

The Wiggly Mustache Portrait is just plain fun. When you turn the crank, the man's mustache wiggles back and forth. The piece is made of wood, brass, plastic, paint, adhered and sealed image. It measures 9 inches x 4.5 inches x 6 inches.

Here is the page for the Wiggly Mustache Portrait by Gary Schott. There are only 5 of these, so get them while you can.

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