Vichy Automaton Depicting Comedy & Tragedy or Les Clownes Insolentes

Vichy Automaton Depicting Comedy & Tragedy or Les Clownes Insolentes, modeled as a pair of clowns, one happy, one sad on serpentine stage with central flight of stairs and brocade runner, both clowns with papier-mache character heads, articulated eyelids and blonde mohair wigs, the sullen clown playing a balalaika, the smiling clown a bed pan, with going-barrel movement playing two tunes, in original elaborate theatrical costumes of sequinned black and gold satin, black tights and pointed shoes, their tailcoats decorated with beaded musical notes, sheet music painted on their jacket backs, ht. 26 1/2 x wd. 20 in., (faces retouched), with Vichy crank-key and acorn stop / start. Provenance: The Jerry Cohen Collection, Sotheby's 1994. Note: Dating from the time of Henry Vichy's involvement in the firm, these two clowns, reminiscent of Toulouse-Lautrec illustrations, may well have been inspired by a real-life act in the Parisian cabaret, whose identity has long-since been forgotten. Like other complex Vichy automata of the period, a long sequence of movements tells a humorous story. The clowns turn side to side on their axis while strumming their unusual instruments, blinking, looking up and around, and kicking their feet in the air. Mid-way through the cycle, the sullen clown begins to lose interest in the performance and falls out of step with his smiling companion, swiveling slightly later, kicking only after a pause, strumming out of time and staring at the ground or at the Read more…