Unidentified Early Clockwork Zeppelin Circling-Tower Toy, Ge...
Unidentified Early Clockwork Zeppelin Circling-Tower Toy, Germany, circa 1910–1925, A rare and imposing early aviation toy, constructed principally in hand-painted tinplate and steel, comprising a model Zeppelin mounted upon a long revolving balance arm above a tall clockwork tower, the cylindrical red-painted airship has a rounded nose, applied fins and tail surfaces, with a suspended gondola beneath supported by fine wire struts and fitted with a separate multi-bladed propeller, the airship is attached to one end of a long black-painted metal arm, the opposite end originally intended to carry a counterweight (missing), the arm is mounted above a tall cream-painted cylindrical tower rising from a square clockwork housing on a green-painted base, an exposed gear assembly at the top transmits the movement from the mechanism below, causing the entire balance arm and Zeppelin to revolve horizontally around the tower, square base retains its integral winding arbor and black key, together with the lever or control associated with the spring-driven mechanism, approximately 510 mm wide × 430 mm high.* Literature: Despite the loss of counterweight the principal Zeppelin, gondola, propeller, arm, gearing, tower and clockwork housing survive, making this an unusually substantial example of an early mechanical aviation novelty from the pioneering Zeppelin era.
[ translate ]Unidentified Early Clockwork Zeppelin Circling-Tower Toy, Germany, circa 1910–1925, A rare and imposing early aviation toy, constructed principally in hand-painted tinplate and steel, comprising a model Zeppelin mounted upon a long revolving balance arm above a tall clockwork tower, the cylindrical red-painted airship has a rounded nose, applied fins and tail surfaces, with a suspended gondola beneath supported by fine wire struts and fitted with a separate multi-bladed propeller, the airship is attached to one end of a long black-painted metal arm, the opposite end originally intended to carry a counterweight (missing), the arm is mounted above a tall cream-painted cylindrical tower rising from a square clockwork housing on a green-painted base, an exposed gear assembly at the top transmits the movement from the mechanism below, causing the entire balance arm and Zeppelin to revolve horizontally around the tower, square base retains its integral winding arbor and black key, together with the lever or control associated with the spring-driven mechanism, approximately 510 mm wide × 430 mm high.* Literature: Despite the loss of counterweight the principal Zeppelin, gondola, propeller, arm, gearing, tower and clockwork housing survive, making this an unusually substantial example of an early mechanical aviation novelty from the pioneering Zeppelin era.
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