A gilt-bronze musical automaton, French, circa 1855

A gilt-bronze musical automaton, French, circa 1855 

In the form of a gothic ruin housing a forge, the tower with a 2¼-inch enamel dial, the Vincenti square-plated movement with concealed winding, silk suspension, outside count wheel striking on a gong with simulated striking on a dummy bell within the surmount, signed on the backplate Fensohn, Hamburg, the rococo giltwood base containing a pull-wound cylinder musical movement playing a tune, a separate key-wound mechanism driving the automaton forge scene with pumping bellows, hammering at an anvil and a horse being shod; with a glass dome

67cm 26¼in high overall