the elephant automaton was one of baron ferdinand de rothschild's most admired treasures. it was mentioned in a local newspaper report of 1889 describing the visit of the shah of persia, who asked to see the mechanism perform again and again.
bibliography
gazeteer and new daily advertiser; 13 february 1772; probable mention of elephant on public display.
charlotte augusta, princess of wales, robert huish; memoirs of her late royal highness charlotte augusta princess of wales etc; london; thomas kelly; 1818; possibly mentions the elephant according to tietz, but can find no reference.
anon; ouvrages en horologie, connus sous le nom de triomphe du grand mogol; paris; [n. pub.]; 1800-1850?; hand-bill kept at the british horological institute library, probably referring to this clock.
georges tietz; description du musée mécanique de georges tietz, contenant l'éléphant mécanique d'o' martinet, et tableaux de l'histoire moderne et de la bible; rheims; maréchal-gruat; 1853; no. 1; probably the same elephant, with details that took 10 years to make.
bucks herald; 13 july 1889; p. 7.
geoffrey de bellaigue, anthony blunt; furniture clocks and gilt bronzes: the james a de rothschild collection at waddesdon manor; 2 vols; fribourg; office du livre; 1974; vol. 1, pp. 140-145, cat. no. 28. ill.
arthur ord-hume, the elephant automaton at waddesdon manor, music & automata, september 1989, 230-239; pp. 230-239.
bonhams; fine clocks, scientific instruments and barometers, tuesday 28 may 2003; may 2003; london; p. 79, ill.
richard redding antiques ltd: masterpieces of the past; zurich; richard redding antiques; 2009; p. 14.
roger smith; the waddesdon elephant - further notes on its early provenance, paper presented at the waddesdon automata symposium; september 2009; n. p.
godfrey curtis, friends visit to waddesdon manor, friends of the clockmakers' museum; newsletter, 2010, 4-5; pp. 4-5
sotheby's publications; treasures: princely taste, 4 july 2012; 2012; london; lot 24, fig. 4.
