Chameleon Chronicles automaton by Thomas Kuntz

Here's yet another amazing automaton by Thomas Kuntz call The Chamelion Chronicles.

From the YouTube description:

This piece was a Commissioned automaton box for Ron Grant, author of the forthcoming beautifully illustrated children's book The Chameleon Chronicles. Absent from this clip are the 22 hand-painted Eggs (each corresponding to a Taro card) painstakingly painted by Luba Mittelman, an excellent illuminated manuscript artist. The book itself which is still in the process of production/binding is also missing in these clips ... in its place for demonstrative purposes in this clip is John Dee's a True and Faithful book. The piece has 16 different functions and is completely mechanically cam and lever driven with the aid of chains pulleys and linkages. Additionally (but not shown ) the dragon smokes with incense which is placed in his body through a door in the back. The piece is about three feet all with figures in roughly 1/9 scale. The footage was shot VERY quickly in less than 20 minutes before the frieght truck picked it up and took it to its owner in Texas!...Still the basic functions are shown.

I am always blown away by the work of Thomas Kuntz -- a modern master of the venerable art of automata.

See more automata by Thomas J. Kuntz on his web site.

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