Automaton of a Court Jester playing with a flying pig marionette

I made this mechanical, musical doll for friend, Mary Lambeth. I just adore it & actually hated to part with it.
Can you put me in your will, Mary? :)

The amazing costume was made by Mary who makes some of the finest reproduction French doll clothes in the USA. The lovely head was made by doll artist Mary Hart.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• automaton
• mechanical
• doll
• musical
• mechanism
• home made
• antique
• French
• arts

[justrafail]

Thanks so much! There's a gr8 book out that teaches U the basics called Cabaret Mechanical Movement by Aiden Lawrence Onn & Gary Alexander. U can find it on eBay or Amazon.

I learned alot just by going to thrift stores & buying anything that had movement, take it home & take it apart. The book will help avoid that.

It's a process that can be a hair ripper but when you get it working it's SO gratifying.

BTW- my family lives on the Gold Coast but i live in the USA.

Cheers,

Vanessa

[blackwhimsy]

Beyond beautiful.You are an amazing artist.As an animator,I can respect the tremendous work you've put into this wonderful creation.

Where would I start to learn to fix,then make automata? I've asked various people like 69Mechanik but no 1 has any suggestions but,"find one & learn yourself.'Automata are a bit hard to find in a random way in Australia.I'd love to make my own-I assume some parts are like animated puppet making or china doll making-but the mechanics part is an unknown field to me.