French automaton, ca. 1925-1930

French automaton, ca. 1925-1930.
With mark "Les Jouets & Automates Français", successor of Auguste Triboulet (1865-1920).
Biscuit face. Glass eyes. Character with lamp at his side.
Original costumes.
It has a modern motor, so it is not necessary to wind it up.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use.
It needs to be reworked as one of the rubber bands that are part of the operation has given way with the passage of time.
Measurements: 58 x 23 x 28 cm (figure); 85 x 60 x 36 cm (total).

The automaton dolls are mechanical figures that imitate the life of the time, sometimes in a parody tone. They have complex movements that allow them to do different things once they are wound up, such as dance, play musical instruments or even smoke. These were not toys intended for children, but were collector's items treasured by an adult audience. Their movement was achieved thanks to a winding mechanism that moved the heads, hands and legs hidden between the dresses, and connected to a musical device of one or several cylinders. In contrast to the sophistication of the faces and hands of the automatons (made by companies specializing in biscuit material, being Jumeau the one that made the highest quality heads, although other French and German brands, such as Simon & Halbig, also worked for the automaton manufacturers), the bodies hidden by the dresses were crude. As a curiosity it is worth mentioning that the dresses were generally made by relatives of the owners of the companies themselves (as in the case of Marie Thérèse Burger, wife of Gustave Vichy, who in many cases was in charge of making the costumes herself).

The one we are now bidding for represents a craftsman dressed in the fashion of the time, with beret and apron. The smiling worker lacks no detail: the perfectly polished shoes, the corseted shirt and the long robe with puffed sleeves and closed cuffs give veracity to his figure. Next to him is a prismatic structure that is illuminated. The whole ensemble is raised on a wooden box that hides the engine.

The artisan Triboulet worked as a foreman in the workshop of Gustave Vichy, a watchmaker by profession who over the years became one of the largest French manufacturers of automatons. When Vichy died in 1904, his widow handed the company over to Triboulet.