Objekt 8
Automated clock with figure and dog
Description
A figure, dark-skinned, dressed in a kind of soldier's uniform, indicates the hour with a staff on a spinning globe. When the hour strikes, the African turns his head and the little dog at his feet jumps. Since the 16th century, many African slaves were also shipped to Europe and, as servants, brought a touch of the exotic to the European courts. Depictions of "Moors" like this one, for example as servants dressed as soldiers, were therefore common in 17th and 18th century art.
Object description
Maker: Carol (also Carll) Schmidt (1590-1635/6), signed
Augsburg, early 17th century.
Bronze, set and gilded, silver
Bequest Carl and Lini Nathan-Rupp, Binningen
Inv. 1982.1199.