Passed
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Description
22" (56 cm.) Arranged upon a box-shaped large wooden platform whose velvet cover is centered by a paper-mache ground-cover is a highly characterized man with paper-mache head,angular cheek and jaw bones,strong nose,painted features,brunette mohair wig and leather cap,and wearing an original woolen and serge costume on his carton torso. He has wooden feet,one attached to the treadle of his grinder,and wooden hands,one holding a wooden pitcher,and the other attached to the string of a grinding wheel. Movements. Standing behind a treadle-operated knife sharpening machine,he pumps the treadle,turning the wheel,and lifting his hand with pitcher; his head nods and turns. Within the wooden base is a mechanism that was originally driven by an exterior pulley or crank handle,but has since been adapted to a wind-up clockwork spring motor. The animations are determined by 4 wooden cams,most similar to those used by Phalibois. Maker unknown,early 20th century. This piece would originally have been part of a series of toy automata,each depicting a different occupation or activity,and the whole lot driven from a common source such as a toy steam engine.