A handsome black-complexioned man with hard composition head having very pronounced character modeling, definition of brow line and cheek bones, elongated throat, artistically painted complexion and facial features, has brown glass eyes, leather eyelids, tongue, fleeced hair, slender carton torso and legs in stylized pose, composition hands posed to hold the banjo and to appear as though strumming the banjo. He wears magenta silk jacket with long tails, striped silk vest with ruffle, double fobs with faux- rubies, black leggings, magenta silk slippers and carries a wooden banjo,and is standing upon a maroon velvet-covered wooden base with original Vichy brass plate. The key is the stylized fleur- de-lis model of Vichy. Movements: he elegantly lifts his head up as moved by the music he is strumming on the banjo, his eyelids dreamily open and close, and his tongue moves in and out. The model appeared in an early catalog of Vichy, named Negre, No. 410 with an indication that the model was deposed. This automaton appeared in Bailly's Automata, The Golden Years, on page 79. By Gustav Vichy, France, circa 1880. 31" (89 cm). Four movements. Two tunes. Exhibits: Bagatelle, Paris, 1993.