page_title: Chariot clock
section_title: Origins: 16th century
hierarchical_section_title: Chariot clock / History / Origins: 16th century
caption_attribution_description: Настольные часы «Бахус» (Аугсбург XVI в.) — бронзовые позолоченные, украшенные множеством литых декоративных фигурок. Греческий бог вина и веселья Бахус возлежит на колеснице, запряжённой слоном. Во время боя часов «Бахус», фигурки по­гонщиков стражи, слон оживают: Бахус подносит бокал с вином ко рту, поводит глазами, птица, свившая гнездо на голове бога клюёт виноград, стража на башне ходит дозором по кругу, погонщики погоняют хлыстами слона, который движет колесницу вперед. Фигурка человека, стоящая за спиной Бахуса, отбивает в колокол время. Предполагается, что часы были подарены Ивану Грозному, т.к. известно, что в конце XVI века они стояли в Грановитой палате во время приёмов иностранных послов. English: Bacchus table clock (Augsburg 16th century) in gilded bronze. The Greek god of wine and merriment, Dionysus (Bacchus for the Romans), lies on an four-wheeled chariot pulled by an elephant. Bacchus brings a glass of wine to his mouth, move his eyes back and forth, the bird with a nest on the God’s head pecks at the grapes, the guards at the tower patrol in circles, the elephant also move his eyes and pull the chariot forward. A man standing behind Bacchus strikes the time on the bell. It is assumed that the clock was given to Tzar Ivan the Terrible, because it is known that at the end of the 16th century it was in the Palace of Facets during the reception of foreign ambassadors.
context_page_description: A chariot clock is a type of mantel/table figural clock in the form of a chariot whose dial is set into the wheel or elsewhere, its origins date back to the second half of the 16th century southern Germany. Normally of classical mythology subject matter, it has been made in different periods and styles such as Renaissance, Louis XV, Louis XVI, Empire, Napoleon III, Art Deco, etc.
context_section_description: In the historical context of the Renaissance, the so-called chariot clocks born in South Germany, a centre for clockmaking in Europe that flourished between 1550–1650, the leading cities being Augsburg, Nuremberg and Munich. 
  They were self-moving four-wheeled tabletop clocks that included automata figurines and some a musical movement too. The German examples have not the dial inserted in the wheel, but in the seat or some other place.
  Most of them were fabricated in Augsburg, although several existing clocks cannot be located due to the lack of inscriptions or hallmarks and are therefore ascribed only to South German workshops. These rare and very costly pieces were only afforded by the nobility and royal courts.
caption: Automaton chariot clock, Augsburg second half of the 16th century. It is believed it was a gift to Tzar Ivan the Terrible.
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