Very Rare and Wonderful French Musical Automaton "Little Tich" by Roullet et Decamps
Lot #103
30" (76 cm.) Standing upon a wooden platform as
though waiting for the theatre curtain to rise,is
a man with highly-characterized papier-mache face
highlighted by a kindly smile,with oil-painted
complexion featuring rosy make-up on
nose,cheeks,ears and chin,brown glass
eyes,articulated eyelids,closed mouth,sculpted
details of forehead wrinkles,brown human hair
wig,carton torso,hands posed to be able to hold
his hat,over-sized feet with painted black
shoes,and wearing a green woolen suit with purple
lapels and red buttons,silk vest with double row
of brass buttons,white shirt and silk tie. When
wound,he seems to come to life from his standing
pose,then alternately taps his very-oversized
feet,first one,then the other,then blinks his
eyes,bends far forward in an amazing feat of
balance while simultaneously lifting his right arm
and thus extending his hat to the audience.
He,then,slowly raises himself while drawing his
hat back to his body
and,finally,stands,open-hatted,satisfied with his
performance. Music plays throughout. Condition:
generally excellent,music and mechanisms function
well. Comments: Roullet & Decamps,circa
1910,inspired by the English stage performer,Henry
Relph,billed as "Little Tich",and indeed,the face
of this automaton aptly resembles photographs of
Relph,as does the action; Relph's unique
performance was based upon wearing shoes that were
"half as long as he is tall". The "Little Tich"
automaton was exhibited at the 1908 International
Exhibition of which one juror,Serre Telmon,wrote
"its elegance is equaled by its ingenuity...Little
Tich accompanies his dancing,his gesture and his
legendary poses with blinking of the eyes". Value
Points: the well-preserved state of the
automaton,along with its wonderful movements,are
rivaled only by its rarity for few examples are
known to exist.
