19TH CENTURY FRENCH AUTOMATON ACROBATIC CLOWN WITH CHAIR

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19TH CENTURY FRENCH AUTOMATON ACROBATIC CLOWN WITH CHAIR:
$575.00

Very rare antique French automaton, manufactured in Paris, 1880s to 1890s, in very good restored condition. Original label on base marked \"AU NAIN BLEU G. FAUVET PARIS JEUX JOUETS 406 - 408 - 410 RUE ST HONORE 1 & 3 RUE RICHEPANCE PARIS.\"The body, hands, feet, chair, base, manufacturer\'s label, rods, etc. all appear to be original. The original clothes (also included) disintegrated with age, and have been carefully and professionally recreated. The bellows has been rebuilt. The clown is 15 in. tall to the peak of the hat. The base is 9.5 in. square. The chair is about 6.25 in. tall and 12.5 in. tall at the highest point. The piece appears to function but needs adjustment. When the bellows is pressed, the clown raises up and flips over the top of the chair. However the clown does not come back over the chair properly after the flip. Some adjustment to the linkage is needed. I\'ve posted a video of the clown. A similar French automaton of the same era was sold in May 2015 for $21,892 (€20,000), before buyer\'s premium, by the German house sale Team Breker. The Breker automaton is slightly more recent, also restored, with replacement clothing and a repainted, non-original head. It does have a much more sophisticated mechanism (with music) but also has a more primitive base and finish. (See last photo for sale results.)I can send additional photos as needed. Note that the last photo is for reference and is not a picture of the item offered for sale.