The incredible 200-year-old automaton: The jewel-studded clockwork caterpillar built to show off 19th Century high technology

Caterpillar uses clockwork to mimic the motion of its real-life equivalent

Made in Switzerland in 1820 for aristocratic Chinese buyers

Sold two years ago at Sotheby's in Geneva for more than $415,000

We usually think of robots as an achievement of the modern era.

But this remarkable machine is proof that the resourceful inventors of the 19th Century had the technology to create their own automata.

Not only that, its remarkable gold and diamond-studded design shows they had the imagination to create them with far more style than our functional modern versions.

Steampunk eat your heart out: This incredible jewel-studded caterpillar that shows how the robot makers of the 19th Century had far more style than those building the functional machines of today

Thought to date back as far as 1820, this incredible pre-electronic mechanical robot was made by Swiss watchmaker Henri Maillardet for sale to aristocratic Chinese buyers.

The rare gold, enamel, jewel and pearl-set automaton mimics the gracious undulating caterpillar's crawl with a clockwork powered mechanism which drives a pair of gilt-metal knurled wheels.

It was titled 'the Ethiopian caterpillar' when Maillardet, in partnership with legendary watchmaker Jaquet Droz, organized an exhibition to show off his menagerie of miniaturised automata in London, which dazzled the public.

According to Sotheby's, which handled the last sale of the caterpillar in 2010, it has also been referred to as the 'Vers de soie' - meaning 'silkworm' - and very likely may have been destined for the court of Qianlong.

Of Maillardet's caterpillar robots only six are known to exist and five are in prestigious collections in Europe, including one in the Patek Philippe museum and another two in the Sandoz collection.

Clever: The rare gold, enamel, jewel and pearl-set automaton mimics the gracious undulating caterpillar's crawl with a clockwork powered mechanism which drives a pair of gilt-metal knurled wheels

Born 1745, Maillardet was a Swiss mechanician who worked in London producing clocks and other mechanisms, including various automata, including a famous set depicting magicians and others which could write in French and English.

The motions of these latter robots, which also drew pictures, were by a series of cams located on shafts in the base, with what is believed to be the largest cam-based memory of any automaton of the era.

When one was presented to Philadelphia's Franklin Institute in 1928 it was of unknown origin; but once restored to working order, the robot itself provided the answer by penning the words 'written by the automaton of Maillardet'.

The Ethiopian Caterpillar was sold at Sotheby's Geneva auction room in 2010 and was snapped up for $415,215 by an Asian buyer.

The auctioneers said in a statement: 'The body realistically designed to represent a caterpillar comprising eleven jointed ring segments, framed by seed pearls, and decorated with translucent red enamel over an engine-turned ground, studded overall with gold-set rubies, turquoise, emeralds,and diamonds.

'The underside is decorated with champlevé black enamel. When the automaton movement is engaged, the caterpillar crawls realistically, its body moving up and down simulating the undulations of a caterpillar by means of a set of gilt-metal knurled wheels.

'The automata work is composed of a barrel, cam and two leavers all working together to create the crawling motion.'



