The second part of the video tour through the thematic exhibition "Circus Parade” is posted in the column “Excursions sequence”.

The thematic exhibition "Circus Parade"is dedicated to the Parisian automata of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the legendary circuses of that distant era. The exhibition features 24 automata from the museum Collection repository. Most of them have never before been shown to the public. The second part of the video excursion introduces the history of automata production, their peculiarities and the reasons for their wide popularity among wide audience.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Paris becomes a center of manufacturing mechanical toys. From historical documents, we know that already in the 1860s in the French capital, there were more than 114 companies producing various mechanical items, automata were among them. Four companies can be considered as the principal manufacturers – firms of Gustave Vichy, Léopold Lambert, Jean Marie Phalibois, Jean Roullet & Ernest Decamps. Several masterpieces created by these efficiently run companies are exhibited at our thematic exhibition.

More details about the mainstream manufacturers of Parisian automata in the second half of the 19th -- the beginning of the 20th centuries and the items from the museum Collection exposition are in the second part of the video tour through the exhibition "Circus Parade".

You can sign up for a guided tour through the exhibition “Circus Parade” on the museum website in the "Contact information" section.