Existing comment:
Model for operating four hydraulic pumps
third quarter of the 18th century
Italian, Florence
A "water raising" machine, this piece is often described as a version of an invention Galileo patented in 1594. The rotating device at the center, known as an eccentric, is driven by a pair of horses harnessed to two rods. The mechanism was thus propelled by a horsepower of only two. It connects via four shafts to balances holding chains that reach down into wells. The turning of the eccentric moves the beams to activate four pumps (not shown) to draw water from the wells. The meticulous perspective marquetry by a Florentine artisan elevates this model to a collector's item fit for a ruler. |