Contemporary Musical Automaton Portrait of John F. Kennedy by Ch

Depicting President Kennedy at work at his desk, with plaster-composition character head, brown glass eyes and moulded hair, seated at ebonized writing desk with quill pen and a battery-powered brass lamp, dressed in grey wool suit, spotted tie and hand-sewn leather shoes, with single-air going-barrel movement in body playing "Happy Birthday" and brass key signed "C.B.", height 21 ½ in. (55 cm), base 12 in. (30 cm) x 17 ¾ in. (45 cm). – Inspired by Gustave Vichy's automaton "Pierrot Ecrivain" of c. 1895, Bailly portrays the 35th president of the United States engaged with official correspondence: a telegram to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. – The President's thoughts, however, appear to be on the photographs of Marilyn Monroe that lie on his table, for – as the lamp light dims – he pauses and his head falls, as though on the verge of sleep. Waking, he turns up the lamp and continues writing. – The automaton is accompanied by the theme "Happy Birthday", recalling Marilyn Monroe's unforgettable performance of "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 19 May 1962 – just three weeks before her sudden death. – This contemporary automaton by Christian Bailly completes his political trilogy, after Presidents Barack Obama in 2013 and Vladimir Putin in 2014. – Literature: Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", pp. 74–75. – A unique animated portrait.

布雷克拍品等级是为了方便竞买人判断拍卖品的成色而设置的。布雷克等级用1到6级来标注外观和功能的成色，(从非常好到非常差)。 在目录图册里用括号里的2个数字来表示，前一个数字表示外观成色的级别，后一个数字表示功能成色的级别。如(3/2)表示外观成色是3(满意的)，功能成色2(好)。 成色 定义参照下列标准： 1 - 非常好 (未使用过，没有使用痕迹) 2 - 好 (新，极少的使用痕迹) 3 - 满意的 (普通的使用痕迹) 4 - 及格的 (明显的使用痕迹，某个非主要部件是后配的) 5 - 有缺陷的 (极明显的使用痕迹, 某个主要部件是后配的，功能上有缺陷，需要修理) 6 - 非常差 (严重破损, 缺少重要部件)