Musical automaton in the shape of a seated girl is mounted on the top panel of a wooden rectangular stand, covered with brown tapestry cloth with braided fringe along the edge, on four feet. The girl has a bisque head with brown glass eyes and moving eyelids, painted eyebrows and lower eyelashes, half-open mouth, earrings in the ears, and brown silk ribbon in her ash-coloured curly hair. Littele girl is wearing a necklace in the form of a chain with beads and a cross. She is dressed in a fluffy dress made of light grey silk fabric, with a shoulder yoke, wide lace trim and openwork frill at the dress bottom. There is lace on the sleeves, band-collar, front panel and yoke. Button fastening is on the back up to the yoke line.vThe girl is wearing white undergarments with lace trim, cream-coloured openwork knee-high socks and brown leather shoes with stamps on the soles. The girl is holding a woven spinning top whip with wooden handle in her right hand.

The musical mechanism with a sound comb, metal cylinder and spring-driven control movement is housed in the base. Label with the handwritten name of the melody in artistically dercorated frame is on the base front side. A keyhole with key for winding the mechanism and pull button for turning the mechanism on/off are on the base rear side.

When the mechanism is activated, the melody plays, the girl leans forward and backward, looks to the left, blinks, her left hand moves up and down, and simultaneously her left foot rises and falls. Then she raises her right hand with a whip, waves it several times, and beats the time with her right foot. Her head turns smoothly to the right and left, she blinks, and all actions are repeated several times, accompanied by a melody from the operetta ‘Mam'zelle Nitouche’ by the French composer Florimond Hervé (June 30, 1825 – November 4, 1892), first performed at the Théâtre de Variétés in Paris on January 26, 1883.
Leopold Lambert obtained French patent No. 238,207 for the automaton of a similar design in May 1894. The set includes the authentic winding key with the letters ‘LB’.

minimize...