"Eccentric Clown" Musical Automaton by Gustave & Henry Vichy, c.

Modeled as a quizzical character holding a copper casserole pot as though it were a banjo, with plaster-composition character head decorated with exclamation and question marks on the cheeks and the letters "A", "B", "C" and "D" on his chin and nose, with brown glass eyes, articulated eyelids, lower lip, three-point mohair wig, shoulders, hands, casserole and lower legs, the chair containing large going-barrel motor driving seven cams and cylinder musical movement, dressed in original rosette-trimmed satin harlequin costume, ht. of figure 33 in. (84 cm) to tip of hair, overall 40 in. (1 metre, 2 cm) or 43 in. (1 metre, 10 cm) including the hair, (movement of head sticking, leather split on eyelids and lower lip, usual wear to costume, lower back-door of chair replaced). With brass acorn-form stop/start and large wrought-steel key. The Vichy catalog describes the "Eccentric Clown" as a "pièce trés original" with "lively and animated" movements. He certainly makes an eccentric and original performance as he looks from side to side, lifts the casserole like a banjo and beats it audibly like a drum. The clown accompanies his performance by clicking his heels together, singing (movement of the lower lip), blinking and shrugging his shoulders melancholically as his hair, taking on a life of its own, bounces up and down upon his head! – Literature: Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", p. 248 for Vichy catalog and Hillier, "Automata and Mechanical Toys", p. 137 for contemporary illustration. – Vichy's "Eccentric Clown" was illustrated by Emile Bayard alongside the "Lune Fin de Siècle" and "La Marchande des Masques" for Léo Claretie's "Les Jouets, Histoire – Fabrication" in 1893. Clowns playing unusual and impractical objects – such as brooms, dominoes and frying pans – as musical instruments make occasional appearances amongst Vichy's automata, however this is the only example of the "Eccentric Clown" that we have seen to date. It represents the artistic collaboration of Gustave and his son Henry Désiré Vichy and has the same facial modeling and proportions as "Bob et son Cochon Savant" ("Bob and his Learned Pig"). Measuring over 1 metre in height, it was one of the largest automata offered in the Vichy catalog. Discovered with Lot 518 in a Mexican estate, the automaton is presented in rare, original working condition and would benefit from very careful cleaning to improve its mechanical functions. A rare and significant Vichy automaton!

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)