Vintage Mechanical Automaton Figure on eBay

By way of a post on BoingBoing.net today, is this interesting automaton just sold on eBay. While the description seems a little vague, the photo documentation in the listing is great. They have many large photos of both the inside and outside of the piece.

I note the presence of a 6-station Geneva mechanism --- used to convert continuous rotary motion into intermittent motion. I'm not at all sure what the Geneva was used for.

Whatever it is, someone paid $1,775.00 USD for it.

Here's a link to the full eBay listing for the somewhat mysterious bearded automaton.