Depicting a pastry cook hiding in a brioche, the cook with Jumeau bisque head stamped in red "Déposé Tête Jumeau, Bté. S.G.D.G. 1" and artist's marks "H7", closed mouth, fixed blue paperweight eyes, feathered brows, pierced ears, blonde mohair wig on cork pate, painted metal hands holding a 'tartine', cream silk suit and matching hat, the molded papier-mâché brioche with hinged lid. Single-air going-barrel movement, ht. closed 9 ½ in. (24 cm), ht. open 14 ½ in. (37 cm), good working condition. With size 11 steel key. – The lid of the brioche opens as the cook rises, turns his head, lifts the tartine and then, as abruptly, vanishes as the lid snaps to. – Roullet et Decamps specialised in the production of 'surprise' automata concealed in everyday items: rabbits in cabbages, children in roses, a Mandarin in a tea urn and a pastry cook in a brioche. Here the illusion is heightened by the realistic modeling and painting of the brioche and the innocent expression of the child-like pastry cook. In French cuisine, the "Pâté surprise" (or "Pain surprise") is a pastry casing filled with cut sandwiches, the traditional accompaniment to champagne at wedding reception. – "Pâté Surprise" is a rare automaton that appears neither in the Roullet et Decamps' sales catalog nor in the firm's record of molds, suggesting an early model that was never put into large-scale production. – Literature: Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", p. 128 for a similar piece. – Provenance: Decamps collection. Accompanying the automaton is a copy of a letter from Cosette Decamps-Bellancourt, describing the discovery of antique clockwork automata from her grandfather's (Jean Roullet) era in a disused room of 10 Rue du Parc Royal, Paris, during renovation work in 1960–61. – A rare and magical automaton.