Early Tableau Mecanique Automaton of a Chinese Juggler by Gustave Vichy

Description:

Early Tableau Mecanique Automaton of a Chinese Juggler by Gustave Vichy, with bisque head, closed mouth, fixed brown eyes of distinctive cut, original white wool topknot and ice-blue and white satin costume edged in Dresden paper, metal hands, and papier-mache body articulated at the elbows, hips and knees, lying on his back on velvet-draped stage with gilt-metal spandrels and mirrored wings reflecting a pair of polychrome-painted wood balls that rise and fall alternately, the going-barrel movement with exterior governor and gear-train driving see-saw lever linked to sprung wooden pulleys and two-air cylinder movement, in glazed giltwood frame with early Vichy key and "acorn" stop / start, 14 x 16 in., ten movements, two independent.
Note: A rare example of an automaton with free-play in the mechanism, the figure looks up and down, moves his arms from the elbow and his legs from the hips and knees, throwing or kicking and then catching the spinning balls. The balls spin on their axis as they come into contact with the figure's hands and feet, the long helical springs in the mechanism creating the illusion that the balls are accelerating as they fall.
Estimate $5,000-8,000

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