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Description
28" (71 cm.) Standing upon a large wooden
platform,posed in a jaunty insouciant manner as
though about to begin his performance,is a
black-complexioned paper-mache man with highly
characterized yet handsome features,glass eyes
with articulated eyelids,wide smile with painted
teeth,black wiry hair,elongated slender torso and
legs,and brown paper-mache hands. He is wearing a
silk costume and sash,leather vest with button
front,and has a tall hat on his head. He is
standing on one foot,seemingly supported by his
fancy walking stick. Movement. To begin his
performance,he taps his foot four times,then
surprisingly spins the cane (which evidently was
not supporting him after all!),and raises his
right hand to flip his hat onto his nose where he
balances it for a short time before flicking it
back onto the top of his head. To signal the end
of his act,he blinks his eyes and turns his head
to the audience. Roullet et Decamps,circa 1910.
Only two other examples of this rare piece are
known,one appearing in Automata,The Golden Age by
Bailly,page 140,identified as "Fashionable
Juggler",and the other,an early electrified
version,previously in the Gaston Decamps
archives,both presented as a white-complexioned
gentleman.