Musical
»Cake-Walk
Dancer« Automaton
by Decamps, c. 1910
With composition character head, brown glass eyes, curly fleece wig, articulated eyelids, lips, arms, hips and knees, standing before a palm tree on velvet-covered base, the figure's torso containing single-air going-barrel movement with steel key, dressed in ruffled shirt, waistcoat, striped breeches and yellow satin tailcoat, height of figure 24 in. (61 cm), total height with tree 32 in. (81 cm), paint and fabric renewed in the original style, newer papier-mâché in legs, good working order. – The Roullet et Decamps firm created a series of automata celebrating popular dances and dancers of the period, including the English music hall entertainer "Little Tich" (see lot 590 in this auction), the Cambodian dancers of King Sisowath's court who visited Marseille in 1906 and the Cake-Walk dancer. The dance was also captured in moving pictures by the 1903 Mutoscope & Biograph Co. reel "Comedy Cake Walk".
A rare automaton and a fascinating piece of social history.
Estimate: € 18,000/20,000
US$ 24,700/27,400
Reserve: € 15,000/US$ 20,550
previous
Front page
next
|
