Mechanical Compositions

Musical automaton "Man playing bilboquet with dog"

    Musical automaton "Man playing bilboquet with dog"

    France, Paris

    1961

    Artisan: Marie-Madeleine Kaeppelin

    Wood, metal, papier-mâché, glass, fabric; mechanical work, sewing, carpentry, painting

    38 x 31.5 x 19 cm

    Inscriptions on the back panel: “M.M. KAEPPELIN”

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    The automaton is housed within wooden case finished in ash veneer, featuring a glass front panel enclosed in a golden picture frame with braided trim along the inner perimeter. Set behind the glass is interior scene with light gray moiré-patterned walls and ceiling, featuring a dark brown paneled wooden door on the back wall and a checkered floor with white, black, and blue tiles. Positioned on the right side of the stage is a slender male figure dressed as sixteenth-century Spanish aristocrat, featuring a fine mustache and a contoured beard, large earrings, and slender legs in silk stockings and heeled shoes.

     

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    1573/ММП