Automaton “Bear – drum player”
Automaton “Bear – drum player”
France, Paris
Circa 1900
Papier-mâché, wood, fur, metal, leather; mechanical work, sewing, carving
58 x 20 x 33 cm
The automaton, fashioned as a bear, stands on its hind legs featuring carved wooden claws. The bear is made of papier-mâché covered in black rabbit fur, featuring black glass eyes and a wire-muzzled mouth open in a fierce growl, revealing its teeth.
When the spring is wound and the mechanism is switched on, roaring sound and tapping
of drumsticks are heard: the bear turns its head, moves its paws, beats the
drum with the drumsticks, and opens and closes its mouth to replicate growling,
with the actions repeated several times.
2360.1-2/ММП