Rare French Automaton "Little Schoolboy in Dunce Cap"by Gustav Vichy

Live Auction

21"(53 cm.) including ears. Seated upon a wooden school bench is a child with paper mache head having very expressive unhappy features,with glass eyes,closed mouth modeled as though crying,brunette mohair wig under paper mache dunce cap with ears,carton torso and legs in seated pose,hinged right hip,bisque hands. He wears his original schoolboy costume in rich vibrant colors including striped stockings and fitted shoes,carries a handkerchief and school slate,and has well-stocked wicker lunch basket beside him on the bench. Condition: generally excellent,mechanism and music function well. Marks: G Vichy,Paris (inside back panel). Comments: Gustav Vichy,Paris,circa 1900,the amusing figure was popular in late 19th century French culture,based upon the illustrations of Castelliin the children's novel Jean Qui Grogne et Jean Qui Rit by Comtesse de Segur; the figure represented here is the misbehaving little boy of the story who often sat in the corner of the schoolroom wearing a dunce cap. Value Points: the amusing automaton features two tunes and six movements: he turns his head quickly side-to-side,then upward,he lifts his right arm,then his left,as though uncertain whether to continue his bad behavior or get down to studying. Periodically his ears flap up and down and he taps the school bench with his left foot. Music plays throughout.