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Automaton

Automaton depicting a monkey magician at a table covered with a cloth, beneath an arch covered with fabric flowers. The monkey has a composition head and hands and is dressed in a satin and silk costume suggesting a Commedia dell'Arte costume, with a high pointed hat. He holds two silver cups in his hands. The base of the automaton is painted and designed to resemble grass with 'growing' plants, and is mounted on a dark ebonised wood plinth. The whole of the automaton is covered with a shaped glass dome.

  • Date:
    ca. 1885 (made)
  • Maker:
    Phalibois, Jean-Marie
  • Collection:
    Victoria and Albert Museum
  • Inventory number:
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  • Place of production:
    Paris
  • Culture:
  • Period:
  • Materials:wood plinth with glass dome covering assemblage of silk fabrics, composition, wood, and unseen metal mechanism
  • Specific materials/techniques:
  • Decorative elements:
  • Inscriptions:
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:
  • Repository:Victoria and Albert Museum