Lot 197
GUSTAVE VICHY BLACK SMOKER AUTOMATON
CIRCA 1880
Auction: 28 March 2012 at 12:00 BST
Description
the composition head with glass eyes and traces of hair, with mechanical movement to the eyes, mouth and neck, the papier mache body with mechanical arms and composition hands, dressed in his original top hat, red silk tailcoat, waistcoat and black breeches, a monocle in his left hand.
Dimensions
70cm high
Footnote
Note: Gustave Vichy was born in 1839 to a Parisian watch and clock maker Antoine Michel who, along with his wife, set up the Vichy company in 1862 with the aim of building and selling clocks, mechanical objects and toys. In 1866, Gustave took over the company and dedicated his time almost entirely to developing automata while his wife, a seamstress, dressed the figures. The Vichy company became part of a group of family businesses that thrived in Paris between 1860 and 1910 and known as the "Golden Age of Automata". Gustave had great success producing advertising automata and one of his models won the Grand Prix at the Great Exhibition of 1900, the only award given to automata or mechanical toys. HIs sone Henry gradually took control of the firm, incorporating Lioret phonograph mechanisms into some automaton models, which were advertised as being able to sing, speak and play musical instruments.