Biography

Henri Maillardet (Jean Henri Nicholas Maillardet) was a Swiss watchmaker and manufacturer of mechanical accessories, musical instruments, and automata. Despite the exquisite craftsmanship and elegant decoration of Maillardet’s creations, he is mentioned less frequently in specialized studies of automata than his more illustrious colleagues James Cox, Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz, and Jean-Frédéric Leschot.

Henri Maillardet was born in the Swiss commune of Meyriez in 1745. In addition to Henri, the family had two other sons, Jacques-Rodolphe and Jean-David Maillardet. It is highly probable that all three brothers trained at the Jaquet-Droz workshop where they participated in developing mechanisms for moving figures, pocket watches, and wristwatches, before later settling in the village of Fontaines. There, Henri and Jean-David were mentioned as "master watchmakers" in 1769.

In 1783, Henri Maillardet became a partner in the Jaquet-Droz & Leschot company and relocated to London to head the firm's London branch. As indicated in a contract notarized by James Cox in May 1783, Maillardet simultaneously managed the London business and the workshop on Bartlett's Buildings. The tools were owned equally by both partners, and Maillardet received the annual salary of £27, along with an equivalent allowance for each employee or apprentice he was required to maintain. Under Maillardet’s management, the firm produced a series of automata depicting magicians and conjurers.

Regrettably, by the late 1780s, the company faced severe financial difficulties. Following the deaths of Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1790, and his son Henri-Louis in 1791, the business in both London and Geneva was liquidated. In an effort to salvage the enterprise, Henri Maillardet purchased the former premises of Cox's Museum – the Great Promenade Rooms at Spring Gardens – in 1798. There, he exhibited his own automata, which replicated the movements of animals and humans. He also introduced to the public the "Siberian Mouse," an automaton with which he later toured the country. In 1811, Henri Maillardet organized a major London exhibition to showcase the workshop's latest technical achievements. However, despite the undeniable success of these public demonstrations, Maillardet’s financial situation steadily deteriorated. In 1830, impoverished, Henri Maillardet passed away in the Belgian city of Mechelen, and many of his automata were subsequently lost.

Fortunately, history has preserved numerous schematics of moving figures and even original automata designed by Maillardet. For instance, in 1805, Henri constructed an automaton named "The Juvenile Artist-Writer" (often referred to as "The Modern Writer"). The doll could write three poems in both English and French and draw four distinct compositions. The movement of the hand was driven by a system of cams located on shafts within the automaton's base.

The "memory" of this automaton was unique for the 19^th century: it possessed the largest number of fixed programs driven by a cam mechanism. Intriguingly, when this automaton was donated to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in 1928, its origin was completely unknown. It entered the Institute's collection as a box of damaged parts: brass rods, levers, gears, and the head and hands of a porcelain doll. The shipment was a gift from the family of the tycoon John Penn Brock. The restoration of the automaton was entrusted to museum staff member Charles Roberts, who managed to repair the doll without any blueprints or instructions from the creator. Once its functions were restored, the automaton itself revealed its maker by writing the words: “Ecrit par l’automate de Maillardet” (French for "Written by the automaton of Maillardet"). It is known that Maillardet originally created the writing boy for tours across England and Europe; following this journey, it was sold to Johann Nepomuk Maelzel. This name carries significant weight in the history of automata: the German mechanic and pianist Johann Nepomuk Maelzel was a friend of Beethoven and developed the "panharmonicon," a mechanical organ driven by pinned cylinders. This instrument simulated the sound of an entire military band. For Maelzel's panharmonicon, Cherubini composed a piece titled "The Echo," Beethoven wrote "Wellington's Victory" (also known as the Battle of Vittoria), and Moscheles contributed several marches. In the early 19^th century, Maelzel acquired every notable automaton he could find. He came into possession not only of Maillardet’s "The Modern Writer" but also of Wolfgang von Kempelen’s "The Turk" (the Mechanical Turk) and Jacques de Vaucanson’s "The Digesting Duck." Having amassed the impressive collection, Maelzel organized a European tour. His shows were attended by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and E. T. A. Hoffmann, both of whom wrote admiringly of their experiences. From Maelzel, the writing automaton passed to the showman P.T. Barnum, becoming part of the collection at Barnum's American Museum. In 1865, Barnum's Museum was consumed by fire, resulting in the destruction of numerous exhibits; it is highly probable that the writing doll was among the damaged pieces. This automaton by Maillardet served as the inspiration for Brian Selznick's 2007 book “The Invention of Hugo Cabret”, which was later adapted into the 2011 film Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese. Interestingly, the automaton's writing instrument today is a ballpoint pen, whereas in the early 19^th century, the doll used a unique pen designed on the principle of a syringe to provide a gradual ink supply. This writing automaton was not the only one produced by Maillardet: another doll could trace Chinese characters on a sheet of paper. It was commissioned by King George III of Great Britain and was intended as a gift for the Emperor of China.

In the early 19th century, Maillardet produced an entire collection of mechanical animals and insects. For instance, the series included the "Ethiopian Caterpillars." Their mechanism consists of relief legs and gilded, grooved wheels, which enable the insects to execute smooth, uniform movements. The caterpillars crawl across flat surfaces, mimicking a wave-like motion as their bodies gracefully rise and fall. Their segments are decorated with translucent enamel over a guilloché background, and further adorned with pearls, gold, rubies, turquoise, and diamonds. The underside of the caterpillars' bodies is decorated with black enamel using the champlevé technique. Intriguingly, the now-common name "Chinese Silkworm" was only given to Maillardet's Ethiopian caterpillars in the late 20^th century. Horological researcher Catherine Cardinal, in her book dedicated to the collections of the museums in Le Locle and La Chaux-de-Fonds, referred to the caterpillars as silkworms, thereby lending the exhibits a more exotic, Oriental character. Indeed, the name "silkworm" appears more appropriate, as the plump body and distinctive head more closely mirror the anatomy of a silkworm rather than the long, slender body of a typical caterpillar. Furthermore, it is known that Maillardet created one of these caterpillars specifically for the court of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong. To date, only six such mechanical caterpillars are known to exist, each featuring slight variations in its decoration. In addition to the caterpillars, Maillardet created miniature versions of mice, frogs, lizards, and snakes. Furthermore, the museum’s collection includes singing bird cages associated with the firm of Henri Maillardet.

Although only a few surviving examples of Henri Maillardet’s work have come down to us, the structural principles of his automata continued to influence various firms and craftsmen throughout the 19^th and 20^th centuries. For instance, an entire series of musical automata known as "Pierrot Writing a Letter" – such as the 1880s Pierrot by the Gustave Vichy firm (Inv. No. 1029/MMP)—was clearly inspired by Maillardet’s "The Modern Writer." To this day, Maillardet’s creations captivate the imagination and, distinguishing his legacy from that of many colleagues and competitors, charm audiences with their exquisite execution and subtle humour.