French Musical Automaton "Acrobat and Musicians in Garden Performance" by Phalibois

Live Auction

23" (58 cm.) A garden scene with a centering flowering tree in the background and various shrubs and ferns upon the painted ground,features an elegant musical and acrobatic performance. Posed upon an acrobatic balancing bar is a bisque head doll with sculpted hair and painted facial features,loosely-jointed wooden limbs,wearing a fine silk theatrical costume,and seated on either side are bisque-head musicians with sculpted hair and painted features,one a lady harpist with silk gown and the other a gentleman mandolin player. When wound,music plays (two tunes,the acrobat dances across the balancing bar,,while the musicians play,moving heads and arms. Condition: generally excellent. mechanism and music function well. Comments: Phalibois,circa 1865. Value Points: superbly-preserved luxury automaton with splendid details of costume and setting,the charming scene is preserved on original ebony base under original four-sided glass dome.