Beschreibung:

Rare "Buste Japonais" Musical Smoking Automaton by Vichy, c. 1890 With plaster-composition head, original paint, defined facial structure and cheekbones, brown paperweight eyes, articulated eyelids and jaw, long black hair wig arranged in top-knot, papier-mâché hands holding an opium pipe and an appropriately replaced tea cup, modeled with lightly arched back on plaster pedestal decorated with raised gilt motifs of leaves and blossom in imitation of Japanese lacquer work, the velvet-covered wood base containing large going-barrel motor, five cams, bell-crank and two-air cylinder musical movement, the bellows for inhaling and exhaling smoke housed in the figure's chest, dressed in black and fuchsia silk brocade kimono, embroidered obi, gold satin cuffs and blue velvet collar with metallic appliqués, ht. 25 in. (64 cm). With key and acorn-form stop/start. – In addition: A period carved oak stand, ht. 47 in. (120 cm), automaton and stand 72 in. (184 cm). – Movements: The Japanese gentleman turns his head, raises the pipe to inhale, moves his mouth and flutters his eyelids as though savoring the experience, then leans his head back to exhale gently and lifts the tea cup in his left hand. The smoke is pulled from a lighted cigarette in the pipe, cycled through the body and expelled from the figure's mouth. – The automaton movement has been cleaned and is in good working condition. The paint on the figure and pedestal is original and has an attractive patina, with some inconspicuous retouch on the finger tips, the figure's lower neck (below his collar) and around the seams of his mouth (below his moustache). – Background: Vichy's choice of subject reflects the "Japonisme" of the late 19th century, a fascination with Japanese culture that inspired works as influential as Claude Monet’s portrait of his wife, Camille, in Japanese costume (1876) and James Abbott McNeill Whistler's "Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room". – An article titled "Les Automates" in the November 1891 issue of "La Nature" described two Japanese-themed automata by Vichy and noted that "a large number of automata representing genre subjects have been inspired by a picture or a current event". – In this category is a series of automaton half-figures apparently based on the works of the French sculptor Emile Guillemin (1841–1907). Guillemin's gilt-bronze bust of "Un Japonais", exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1878, depicts a very similar figure and may have served as the model of Vichy's "Buste Japonais". – Literature: Bailly, "Automata, the Golden Age", p. 256 in Vichy catalog; Alber, "Les Automates", 7 November 1891, in "La Nature. Revue des Sciences 1891" (annual), p. 357. – A rare and handsome Vichy automaton. Musik-Raucherautomat "Buste Japonais" von Vichy, um 1890 Kopf aus Gips, Original-Bemalung, fein proportionierte Gesichtszüge und Wangenknochen, braune Paperweight-Augen, Augenlider und Unterkiefer sind beweglich, geknotete Echthaar-Perücke, Hände aus Papiermaché, in der rechten Hand eine Opium-Pfeife, die linke Hand hält eine Teetasse (passend ersetzt), modelliert mit leicht nach hinten gebeugtem Rücken auf einem Gips-Sockel mit japanischer Lackmalerei (Imitation), dekoriert mit erhabenen und vergoldeten Motiven von Blättern und Blüten, auf mit Samt bezogenem Sockel mit großem Federwerkmotor, Mechanik mit 5 Nockenscheiben, Hebel für die im Bauch der Puppe montierten Blasebälge und Walzenspielwerk mit 2 Melodien. Gekleidet in schwarz-fuchsiarotem Seidenbrokat-Kimono mit bestickter japanischer Schärpe, goldenen Satin-Ärmeln und blauem Samt-Kragen mit metallischen Verzierungen, Höhe 64 cm, mit Schlüssel und eichelförmigem Starthebel. – Dabei: Zeitgenössischer Ständer aus geschnitztem Eichenholz, Höhe 120 cm, Gesamthöhe 184 cm. – Bewegungen: Der japanische Gentleman dreht den Kopf, hebt die Pfeife an den Mund, bewegt den Mund und zuckt mit den Augen, anscheinend den Geschmack genießend, lehnt den Kopf zurück, atmet den Rauch sanft aus und hebt