Silver book form. Marked 800 on the clasp. 2 1/4"w x 1 3/4"d x 3"h.
On a bookshelf this "book" appears to be a liturgical prayer book. Off the shelf, the front cover depicts an engraving of male suitors evocative of the "balcony" scene from Romeo and Juliet. One man is giving another man flowers. Two hearts, one up and one down, appear engraved below the figures.
The sterling front cover opens to a clock with gold hands, Roman numerals, and the wind. At the bottom of the engraving are two sea creatures approaching a kiss.
The back cover opens to the coup de grace revealing an automated gay sex scene. The bottom figure is bent over a table with a partially draped window carved in relief in the background. The top is penetrating the bottom figure, and both are done in gold relief. The figures are surrounded by the shape of a house comprised of a repeating relief form of three balls in upside-down hearts, evoking the infamous coat of arms of Bartolomeo Colleoni (Coglione), the 15th-century Italian military leader. "Coglione" in Bartolomeo's time was slang for "balls," as in having a lot of courage in battle, or as others believed, because Bartolomeo in fact had three balls.
Given the subject matter and age of this automaton, it is exceptionally rare. It is exquisitely executed, suggesting it was commissioned at considerable expense from a talented maker. Provenance: Treadway Toomey Auction 2016; the collection of two gentlemen.
Condition
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