Dug North sez, “The Ethiopian Caterpillar is an exquisite automaton from 1820 going to auction at Sotheby’s November. Attributed to Henri Maillardet — creator of the famous drawing automaton — only six automaton caterpillars are known to exist. Its value is estimated to be somewhere between $350,000 and $450,000.”
Ethiopian Caterpillar automaton by Maillardet
(Thanks, Dug North!)