Wood horse sculpture by The Father of Modern Automata, Sam Smith, turns up on eBay

Sam Smith is often cited as a predecessor and inspiration for many of today's top automaton-makers. While not an automaton-maker as we might define it now, his sculptures had a wonderful toy-like quality. In his book, Automata and Mechanical Toys, Rodney Peppé singles out Sam Smith as a seminal figure in the emerging field of contemporary automata. He even refers to Smith as "the father of modern automata". This illustrious title is bolstered by Smith's own art and the fact that he personally encouraged artists Frank Nelson and Peter Markey to pursue automaton-making.

One of his pieces is currently for sale on eBay. It's the first time I've seen one for sale.

From the eBay description:

The piece is titled FLORIO and is a unicorn Miniature pull toy , as you can see its carved and painted wood and it retains its paper label for Sam Smith , this is a genuine product , And as I said above is very rare.

Here is the eBay listing for this Sam Smith mechanical wooden horse toy sculpture.

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