$27,000
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sold
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Description
17" (43 cm.) h. 12" x 8" base. Standing upon a velvet-covered wooden base is a bisque-headed doll with brown glass paperweight inset eyes, closed mouth, blonde mohair wig over cork pate, carton torso and legs, wire upper arms, bisque forearms, wearing silk dress, artist's cape, and wide-brimmed feathered cap. She stands behind a tripod-based box camera which is aimed at a small bisque doll posed upon a maplewood stool. When wound, music plays, the photographer lowers the unexposed photographic plate into the camera, activates the shutter with her right hand, and, finally, raises the finished plate which now has a sepia-toned photograph of the doll. Condition: generally excellent, music and motions function well. Marks: Depose (impressed on underside of base). Comments: attributed to Louis Marie Renou, circa 1895. Value Points: extremely rare and beautifully preserved automaton with most unusual theme, having intriguing activity, and with original camera and photographs.