With unsigned Jumeau bisque character head modeled as a young Chinese woman with amber-tinted complexion, slender neck, high forehead and cheekbones, closed smiling mouth, fixed brown glass eyes, pierced ears with earrings, original black mohair wig with gilt-metal ornaments, bisque hands holding a painted wood teapot and tea-service on a tray, on velvet-covered base with going-barrel movement playing a single air ("Les Cloches de l'Eisenbarth") as the figure turns and gently bows her head to the left and right, then lifts and tilts the teapot as though pouring into the cups which she proffers with a horizontal movement of her left hand. – Dressed in the original asymmetrical floral-printed velvet kimono with pagoda sleeves, gold satin underskirt and metallic appliqués, ht. 18 ½ in. (47 cm), left hand repaired – mostly covered by the tray. With brass key monogrammed "LB" and tune-sheet. – A fine automaton in good working condition and original dress. The beautifully modeled bisque head, described in Lambert's catalog as a "tête caractérisée", was presumably an exclusive commission from the premier French doll-maker, Emile Jumeau, since this particular face is found on Lambert automata alone. The decoration is similar in style to a series of dolls representing different nations produced by Jumeau for international exhibitions during the 1880s. – Literature: Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", p. 348; Auction Team Breker, 19 November 2011, Lot 425, for a similar piece.