Depicting a winged clown teasing a papier-mâché full moon with a beetle on a string, the clown with bisque head (Paris Bébé model) stamped "Déposé Tête Jumeau, Bte. S.G.D.G. 1" and artists's marks "HIII", closed smiling mouth, full cheeks, fixed brown glass eyes, painted make-up, pierced ears, blue mohair wig, bisque hands and yellow satin costume with maroon sleeves and silk-covered wings, one foot resting on the moon's top hat, the moon with original paint, open mouth with modeled teeth, articulated tongue and brown paperweight eyes, on velvet-covered base containing two-air going-barrel mechanism, ht. 25 ½ in. (65 cm). Good working condition. – The clown nods his head and flutters his wings as he lowers the beetle in front of the moon's nose, causing him to cross his eyes and stick out his tongue in confusion! – The moon was a popular motif for automata-makers at the end of the 19th century, but the "Clown sur la Lune" by Roullet et Decamps and the "Lune Fin de Siècle" by Vichy were the most famous examples of automata featuring the full moon as a human face. This iconic image, along with Jules Verne's novels "De la Terre à la Lune" (1865) and "Autour de la Lune" (1870), may have been the inspiration for George Méliès's silent film "Voyage dans la Lune" (1902), where the moon is depicted in the same way. – Provenance: Decamps family collection. Accompanying the automaton is a letter from Cosette Bellancourt-Decamps (daughter of Gaston Decamps and proprietor of SARL Decamps from 1972 until its closure in 1994) regarding the history of this piece: "I, Cosette Decamps, certify that the 'Clown sur la Lune' was part of my family collection (Roullet Decamps)." – Its approximate date of manufacture is 1885/1890 for its mechanics, moon and body. The dress was later restored by the Maison Decamps according to the tradition ... The mould number, an important testimony to date the piece, is No. 324 according to our archives: mould directory written by my grandmother Henriette Roullet-Decamps "324 Clown Lune et Lune et Chapeau". – Literature: Christian Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", pp. 144 and 312.