$12,925
Tightrope Walker Automaton by Jean Phalibois, circa 1865, No. 86, with acrobat on tightrope flanked by musicians playing violin and lute in papier-mache landscape beneath flowering tree, on ebonized ogee base with two-air pull-string cylinder movement and going-barrel automaton movement driving two pinned wheels for the musicians and pinned wood drum with four levers for the acrobat, the wires passing through the tree trunk and causing him to leap into the air, landing on his left or right foot alternately, while kicking to the side with his other foot and raising and lowering the beam both to balance and to heighten the effect, while the musicians nod their heads and play in time to the music, in the original feathered turbans and exotic polychrome silk costumes trimmed with gilt Dresden paper, under glass dome, eight movements, ht. 24 1/2 in. Literature: Bailly, Automata, The Golden Age, 1848 - 1914 , pp. 160 - 161. Note: A classic automaton by Phalibois, the Tightrope Walker was made with several variations of figures and scenery, and retailed by the London department store Silber and Fleming. This is a particularly early example, with carved and painted wood heads, and the shaved kid skirt of the dancer that emphasizes his movements.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-03-24
