Guitar-Playing Troubadour with Pirouetting Harlequin
Manufacturer
Roullet et Decamps
(French, 1865 - 1995)
Dateca. 1885
OriginFrance
Dimensions37 1/2 in. (95.3 cm)
ClassificationsAutomaton
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2017.209
Label TextProbably Roullet et Decamps, (French, 1865-1939)
Automaton: Guitar-Playing Acrobat with Pirouetting Harlequin
Unmarked, ca. 1885
Gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
The human fascination with moving amusements at the end of the 19th-century is reflected in this animated performing ensemble. A similar automaton by the firm Roullet et Decamps, manufacturers of high-quality automata, describes such a figure as a saltimbanque, a type of traveling circus performer providing entertainment in small towns and villages.
Such performers were also portrayed by Pablo Picasso, in his large painting Family of Saltimbanques, 1905.
Status
Not on view
