$13,500
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sold
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Description
22" (56 cm.) h. seated. Seated at a wooden table is an old woman
with paper mache head having deeply-impressed wrinkles and
downcast eyes,grey mohair wig,carton torso and legs,metal hinged
upper arms,paper mache hands. The woman is costumed as a fortune
teller with cards in one hand and a cup in the other. When
wound,music plays,and a complicated series of movements occur: she
nods her head and then leans it backward,while alternately
examining the cards she holds in her hand,and then lifting the cup
to gaze inside (presumably at tea leaves). Meanwhile her eyes open
and close in accord with the other actions,and periodically her
spectacles raise high in the air,as though astonished at the
fortune she sees. Condition: mechanism and music function
well,original finish albeit dusty; the automaton was originally
mounted on a wooden base; restoration was performed about 40 years
ago by automaton authority Marcu of France who altered the base to
self-stand. Comments: French,circa 1890,another example of the
rare piece was shown in an exhibition off the automaton treasures
of early collector Jack Donovan of London; other examples are not
known at this time. Value Points: rare automaton with delightful
actions.