.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品专文
The present automaton is probably a unique model. It is part of an extremely rare group of less than ten mechanical mice known as 'Siberian mice', all mostly held in public collections including the Bowes Museum in Durham, the Sandoz collection in Le Locle, and the Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva.
However, unlike all the other examples, the present automaton is in fact a field mouse, suggested by the unadorned brown enamel colour of its coat. The simplicity of the decoration makes it all the more realistic as, when activated, like other known examples, it moves forward on all four paws, before stopping abruptly to shake its head as if it had found something to nibble on or sensed danger approaching, before turning around twice to return to its starting point - a relatively complicated routine.
HISTORY OF AUTOMATONS: FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE 19TH CENTURY
Automatons have always fascinated the public, not only for their magical quality but also as technological feats. The first animal shaped automaton was invented by Archytas of Taranto (435 BC - 347 BC) and described as a dove capable of flying. Then, between the end of Antiquity and the 13th century, automatons were somehow forgotten in Europe, whereas the Middle East continued to take an interest in them, notably with the development of automaton clocks.
It wasn't until the 16th century that automatons reappeared in Augsburg and Southern Germany with the production of small animals such as Hans Schlottheim's crayfish (circa 1645-1525) and Tobias Reichel's spider, both now housed at the Grünes Gewölbe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden.
In the early 18th century, it was Jacques Vaucanson (1709-1782) who turned his attention to automatons as a means of education rather than entertainment, notably with his "anatomies mouvantes", a type of automaton that reproduced the natural functions of animals. Later on in the 18th and early 19th century, Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot, in collaboration with the Maillardet family became the undisputed masters in the field. Auguste Maillardet described in an advertisement their elaborate animal automatons as "Animaux mouvants" which included an elephant with a moving trunk; a walking goat that drank from a waterfall; a dog guarding a basket of fruit that, when picked-up, stood up and barked until put down; a fox that wandered off to return to its den, and a butterfly that flapped its wings (p. 248 Chapuis and Droz, 1949). Meanwhile the Maillardet also produced some of these in enamelled and jewelled gold, including a mouse, a lizard and a caterpillar, which Henri Maillardet (1745 - c1815) also advertised in London in an 1811 poster.
HENRI MAILLARDET
Henry Maillardet, who is credited with the creation of these objects, is a relatively unknown figure in the world of automatons, unlike his more famous associates: James Cox, Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot.
Born in Meyriez, Switzerland, in 1745, Henri and his two brothers were probably trained in the Jaquet-Droz workshops before settling in the village of Fontaines, where Henri and Jean-David were registered as clockmakers in 1769.
In 1783, Henri went into partnership with Jaquet Droz & Leschot and moved to London as manager of their London branch. According to a contract attested by James Cox dated May 10, 1783, he ran the London business and the workshop at Bartlett's Buildings; the tools belonged equally to the two partners, and Maillardet received a salary of 27 pounds a year and the same sum for each of the workers or apprentices, whom he had to feed and house.
Unfortunately, by the end of the 1780s, the company had run into financial difficulties and went into liquidation in London and Geneva after the death of Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1790 and his son Henri-Louis in 1791. After trying to save the business, in 1798 Henri Maillardet took over the former premises of Cox's Museum, the Great Promenade Rooms in Spring Gardens, where he presented his automata, including "L'Ecrivain Moderne", his most incredible invention made famous by Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret and now at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, as well as a Siberian Mouse, which he later exhibited throughout the country. However, his financial situation deteriorated, and Henri Maillardet died, ruined, in Belgium around 1830.
However, unlike all the other examples, the present automaton is in fact a field mouse, suggested by the unadorned brown enamel colour of its coat. The simplicity of the decoration makes it all the more realistic as, when activated, like other known examples, it moves forward on all four paws, before stopping abruptly to shake its head as if it had found something to nibble on or sensed danger approaching, before turning around twice to return to its starting point - a relatively complicated routine.
HISTORY OF AUTOMATONS: FROM ANTIQUITY TO THE 19TH CENTURY
Automatons have always fascinated the public, not only for their magical quality but also as technological feats. The first animal shaped automaton was invented by Archytas of Taranto (435 BC - 347 BC) and described as a dove capable of flying. Then, between the end of Antiquity and the 13th century, automatons were somehow forgotten in Europe, whereas the Middle East continued to take an interest in them, notably with the development of automaton clocks.
It wasn't until the 16th century that automatons reappeared in Augsburg and Southern Germany with the production of small animals such as Hans Schlottheim's crayfish (circa 1645-1525) and Tobias Reichel's spider, both now housed at the Grünes Gewölbe, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden.
In the early 18th century, it was Jacques Vaucanson (1709-1782) who turned his attention to automatons as a means of education rather than entertainment, notably with his "anatomies mouvantes", a type of automaton that reproduced the natural functions of animals. Later on in the 18th and early 19th century, Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot, in collaboration with the Maillardet family became the undisputed masters in the field. Auguste Maillardet described in an advertisement their elaborate animal automatons as "Animaux mouvants" which included an elephant with a moving trunk; a walking goat that drank from a waterfall; a dog guarding a basket of fruit that, when picked-up, stood up and barked until put down; a fox that wandered off to return to its den, and a butterfly that flapped its wings (p. 248 Chapuis and Droz, 1949). Meanwhile the Maillardet also produced some of these in enamelled and jewelled gold, including a mouse, a lizard and a caterpillar, which Henri Maillardet (1745 - c1815) also advertised in London in an 1811 poster.
HENRI MAILLARDET
Henry Maillardet, who is credited with the creation of these objects, is a relatively unknown figure in the world of automatons, unlike his more famous associates: James Cox, Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz and Jean-Frédéric Leschot.
Born in Meyriez, Switzerland, in 1745, Henri and his two brothers were probably trained in the Jaquet-Droz workshops before settling in the village of Fontaines, where Henri and Jean-David were registered as clockmakers in 1769.
In 1783, Henri went into partnership with Jaquet Droz & Leschot and moved to London as manager of their London branch. According to a contract attested by James Cox dated May 10, 1783, he ran the London business and the workshop at Bartlett's Buildings; the tools belonged equally to the two partners, and Maillardet received a salary of 27 pounds a year and the same sum for each of the workers or apprentices, whom he had to feed and house.
Unfortunately, by the end of the 1780s, the company had run into financial difficulties and went into liquidation in London and Geneva after the death of Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1790 and his son Henri-Louis in 1791. After trying to save the business, in 1798 Henri Maillardet took over the former premises of Cox's Museum, the Great Promenade Rooms in Spring Gardens, where he presented his automata, including "L'Ecrivain Moderne", his most incredible invention made famous by Brian Selznick's novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret and now at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, as well as a Siberian Mouse, which he later exhibited throughout the country. However, his financial situation deteriorated, and Henri Maillardet died, ruined, in Belgium around 1830.