Bébé Jumeau Lioretgraphe Doll, c. 1895

With bisque head impressed "11", fixed brown paperweight eyes, open mouth, upper teeth, pierced ears, brown mohair wig, jointed composition body with metal cover over chest, original finish and light "Bébé Jumeau, Diplome d'Honneur" inks stamp, dressed in contemporary muslin factory chemise and white-work dress with flap at chest for accessing the mechanism, height 24 in. (61 cm), visible mold seam on neck, some wear at wrist joints, otherwise good. Housed in the doll's chest is the brass key-wind Lioret phonographe No. 4979, with "H.L." stamp, floating mica reproducer and 2 ¼-inch (5,8 cm) celluloid cylinder ("Ah! Mon beau Château") with original paper label: "Phonographe Système Lioret". – It was Jumeau's request to Henri Lioret (then a clockmaker) to produce a speaking mechanism for dolls that inspired his first patents for a phonograph in 1893. Lightweight and elegant in design, Lioret's mechanism, however, proved too fragile and expensive for use in a toy. Though the speaking dolls were not a commercial success at the time (and are correspondingly rare today). The "Merveilleux" phonograph in its own right came into being in 1895. Later in his career Lioret worked on sound for films; he died in 1938 at the age of 90. – The mechanism of this example is in good working order and the sound of a laughing child, recorded more than 110 years ago, still plays clearly today! A rare example of an historic early phonograph in toy-form.

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)