Automaton "Fortune teller"
Automaton "Fortune teller"
Japan
The 1950s
Ichida Co., Ltd.
Papier-mache, wood, metal, fabric, lace; sewing, mechanical works, painting
Height 26 cm
On the tin lid: "PUT BATTERIES HERE", logo in form of a circle with a bunch of grapes, the inscription below: "ISHIDA". "MADE IN JAPAN"
Automaton in the form of a sitting fortune-teller figure is mounted on rectangular, red-brown metal stand with rounded corners. The fortune-teller is dressed in black raincoat with wide sleeves and cape with hood, trimmed with red braid. A string of pearls is on her neck. Hands and head are made of skin colour plastic and painted. Her gray hair is short. White ball lies on red handkerchief on the left hand palm. The extended left hand fingers are bent. Coin selector lid with the slot is fixed on the stand in front of the figure. Coin box and battery compartment, closed with black tin-hinged cover with white inscription, are on the stand bottom side. After the coin is dropped in the slot, the figure comes into motion: the head rises, the eyes begin to glow, the left hand moves several times to the side, the right one rises and descends.
The card with prediction falls from the sleeve to the palm. Then the head goes down, the eyes pop out. The cycle ends.
Инв.1838/ММП