自动音乐玩偶’Marchande des Masques’Gustave Vichy制造 约1890年

Fine Gustave Vichy Musical "Marchande des
Masques" (Japanese Mask Seller) Automaton, c. 1890  
With composition head, original paint, brown paper-
weight eyes with articulated lids, arched brows, open
smiling mouth with inset bone teeth, pierced ears and
black hair wig swept back from the forehead, holding a
large red paper parasol in her left hand, a Noh mask in
her right, and three more masks representing male and
female characters hanging from a painted tray sus-
pended at her wais. The going-barrel movement in the
body playing two airs and causing the figure to bow her
head and look from left to right and then slowly raise
the mask to her face, while blinking and twirling the
parasol in time to the music, in original silk kimono
with embroidered and painted motifs of flamingo, flow-
ers and characters, peach satin lining and upturned
wooden slippers, height 34 in. (86 cm), 42 in (107 cm)
with parasol, with brass key stamped "GV" and "acorn"
stop/start, some fibre loss on left side of skirt and sleeve,
good working order. –  Literature: Christian Bailly,
"Automata, the Golden Age", 1987, pp. 70 and 235. –
The "Marchande des Masques" was one of several
automata by Vichy described in an 1891 edition of "La
Nature": "... a Japanese lady with an expressive (al-
though perhaps too occidental) face, dressed in richly
embroidered materials. She holds before her a tray with
masks. In one hand she has an immense parasol which
serves as a kind of backdrop, and in the other she has a
mask. She turns her head, opens and closes her eyes,and all the while the parasol gently spins between her
fingers and she lifts a mask to her face every now and
then." – The automaton appeared in the Vichy catalogue
as a "modèle déposé", a process usually reserved only
for  a maker's most important pieces. With her lifelike
movements and impressive size, the Japanese Mask
Seller is  one of Vichy's most iconic automata. – This
example is preserved in overall fine original condition.