$10,000
Sold
sold
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Description
27" (69 cm.) including dome. 20" h. scene. 19"w. Arranged upon an ebony wooden base under glass dome is a vine-covered arch which centers an amusing scene of paper mache monkey as chef wearing original chef costume and holding a spoon in one hand and a bottle in the other, standing behind a cast metal stove with pots on the surface and a roasting meat below. When wound, music plays, the monkey turns his head side to side, and alternately stirs the pot and lifts the bottle to his mouth to take a swig. Throughout, his eyes blink open and closed, and his mouth hinges wide open and closed as though chattering and drinking, while in the open stove oven, the roast turns around and around. Condition: generally excellent, music and mechanisms function well. Comments: Phalibois, circa 1880, from his series of satirical parlor domed automata peopled by costumed monkey. Value Points: elaborate six-movement automaton is as perfectly-preserved as it is wonderfully amusing.