Claude the Clown.

[Geoff Wooff]

Claude  the  Clown  is  an  automaton  playing  the  concertina  by  Gustave  Vichy,  circa  1890.    This  very  interesting  item  is  coming  up  for  auction  in Cologne  on  the  23rd  March... with  an  estimate  of  €18,000 - €25,000 !

 

Well  worth  a  look  at  the  information  and  photos  provided  at    www.the-saleroom.com  (  a  search  for  'concertina'  will  bring  up  the  details) .

Edited March 19 by Geoff Wooff

[alex_holden]

Thanks Geoff, that's very interesting. Here is the direct link to the auction lot:

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auction-catalogues/auction-team-breker/catalogue-id-breker10039/lot-ec63695b-e762-42e3-a857-b12601235875

 

Their description:

 

Claude the Clown Musical Automaton by Gustave Vichy, c. 1890
Depicting a clown jauntily playing the concertina atop a banded wood barrel, with plaster-composition character head decorated with painted colored discs, articulated eyes, nose and right foot, the going-barrel motor with six cams and single-air cylinder movement causing Claude to turn and nod his head, move both hands and tap his foot as his eyes dart from left to right and his nose moves in and out in time to the music, dressed in checked silk breeches and magenta satin tailcoat trimmed with lace, ht. 26 in. (66 cm), good working condition, cylinder movement an old replacement, baseboard of barrel replaced, with bone-handled crank and Vichy acorn-form stop / start. - Literature: For similar pieces, see: Christian and Sharon Bailly, "Automates Anciens", exhibition at the Hospice Saint-Charles, 25. Nov.-30. Dec. 1995; Andrea Robertson, "Museum of Automata", p. 38. - With his lopsided grin, raised eyebrows and unique articulated nose, which mimics the folds and the movements of the concertina, "Claude" has one of the most remarkable faces in the Vichy oeuvre. The automaton was not illustrated in the Vichy catalog and surviving examples are exceedingly rare. We know of only four others: one in the former Museum of Automata in York, England, one exhibited at the Hospice Saint-Charles in Paris in 1995 and two in private European collections.

 

And here is the accompanying video:

I have saved a copy of the photos in case they get taken down after the auction.

[Geoff Wooff]

Thanks  for  adding  the links  Alex......  I'm  a bit  of  a dunce  when it  comes  to this  IT  stuff.

[SIMON GABRIELOW]

How delightful and such a lovely sound too. I remember the museum of Automata in York, and it eventually had to close. I hope some one buys the 'Clown".. and looks after him🌝

[Clive Thorne]

He's managing very well, given the state of the straps.

[David Barnert]

But...

 

His fingers aren’t touching the buttons! 

 

[... but I must say, he’s got the “concertina face” down perfectly!]

[Richard Mellish]

I'm disappointed that the sound is that of an ordinary musical box, entirely unrelated to the instrument that he is supposedly playing. If the head etc movements are produced by a "single-air cylinder movement" it's a pity that that doesn't also blow air past reeds.

[David Barnert]

16 minutes ago, Richard Mellish said:

I'm disappointed that the sound is that of an ordinary musical box, entirely unrelated to the instrument that he is supposedly playing. If the head etc movements are produced by a "single-air cylinder movement" it's a pity that that doesn't also blow air past reeds.

 

To play a tune, there would need to be many reeds, and not miniature ones, either. The tune the music box plays has a range of an octave and a major 6th, which would require 13 reeds (more if you want an accompaniment like the music box plays), the smallest being big enough to make a reasonable sound.

[Geoff Wooff]

Sold!  Hammer price €20,000 !!     Plus  the   buyer's  premium  and  sales tax........

 

 

Edited March 23 by Geoff Wooff