Lovely short film about Maria and Micheal Start of The House of Automata

Here's a really nice short film about my friends Maria and Micheal Start who are behind The House of Automata

Visit their web site to learn more about The House of Automata.

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A "penny toy" acrobat dating to about 1900

Check out this nifty "penny toy" acrobat dating to around 1900. The piece was brought in to The House of Automata for repair and is quite rare. I love how such a simple mechanism can produce such an enchanting object.

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The tiny Fairy Ship automaton music box

This tiny mechanical marvel is brought to us by Michael Start from The House of Automata. The tiny ship not only moves, but at one time also played a tune -- probably rising and falling notes coordinated with the ship's movement. The mechanism, dating to around 1830, would have been mounted in a case with a piece of paper or cloth serving as the rolling sea.

See more incredible antique automata at The House of Automata web site.

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Preview for the film The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Why -- you might be wondering -- would we be sharing the trailer to a motion picture here on The Automata / Automaton Blog? It's simple: this movie features an automaton! Back in the fall of 2008, I did a post about the novel from which this movie comes: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. The automaton in the story is based in large part on the famous writing and drawing automaton by Maillardet, now housed at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.

From the film description:

The film tells the tale of an orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. When Hugo encounters a broken automaton, an eccentric girl, and the cold, reserved man who runs the toy shop, he is caught up in a magical, mysterious adventure that could put all of his secrets in jeopardy.

Not only is the story good, the film is directed by Martin Scorsese and can list Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, and Christopher Lee among the many notable actors.

This preview was brought to my attention by Michael Start of The House of Automata whose considerable talents were put to good use; you see, he served as the Automaton and Horological Adviser to the film! Bravo!

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Sand powered acrobat automaton mechanism

Michael Start from The House of Automata sent along this nice video of a sand-powered acrobat automaton.

From the video description:

Made for a National Museum. The Acrobat is a copy of a Victorian example but strongly made and with a Perspex back to allow the public to operate it and inspect the mechanism. Note the use of a suspended glass bearing as per the original.

[ Thanks Michael! ]

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Moving Automata show by The House of Automata

The amazing Cabaret Mechanical Theatre blog sends word that there is an automata exhibit featuring the pieces shown in the video above. The exhibit is located at the Nairn Museum and is being presented by Maria and Michael Start, expert automata restorers from The House of Automata.

From The House of Automata web site:

A complete and interactive automata experience at the Nairn Museum. Back to this beautiful venue by popular demand! We are exhibiting the very best in Antique and Contemporary automata. A weekly talk and demonstration of the rarer pieces takes place on Saturdays at 11am.

Here's where you can learn more about the Nairn Museum and the current automata exhibit.

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Discovery during the restoration of an automaton

Check out this video to see the incredible discovery Michael Start made while restoring this antique laughing sailor coin-operated automaton.

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Satyr Head of Mystery - magical mechancial prop

The Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Blog has been ups to some really great things this month. Yesterday, they posted about this amazing mechanical prop meant for use by a stage magician. It's wonderful prop, though it seems like it may take some practice to get the hang of it.

From the video description:

Made of strong papier mache, gessoed and painted with leather eyelids and fine glass eyes in the tradition of the Parisian automata makers. Designed to produce one or two items from the mouth and top of the head. The final issue is due to awaken in the Spring of 2010, expressions of interest are invited.

Here is the link to the full post on The Mechanical Blog.

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Realistic dachshund clockwork automaton

Made in Paris around 1900 by Roullet & Decamps, this is a life-sized paper-mâché automaton dog. The clockwork mechanism housed inside the dog's body makes it nod its head and open and shut his mouth -- as if panting -- for about 20 minutes.

Visit AutomatomaniA to see more images of this very realistic dachshund automaton.

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Mechanical Christmas tree stand with four tunes

Made around 1900, this German clockwork Christmas tree stand spins the tree around and plays four tunes.

For more info, visit http://www.automatomania.com.

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Video of vintage automaton cat restoration

Here is bit of video from the folks at Automatomania showing the inner workings of a antique cat automaton made by the famous makers Roullet and Decamps.

From the YouTube description

This is an automaton of a fur covered papier mache cat by Decamps of Paris Circa 1900. The film shows the restoration at the stage where all the parts have been repaired and the cat is tested prior to re-assembly.

Note the tail curl, it is a realistic action achieved with wooden balls wedged along a tapering spring within the tail, the cord pulls on the last ball only to curl it. This is a fragile part of the cat and is always broken in antique examples I have seen.

The restored cat is now for sale and can be seen at the Automatomania shop online shop.

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Singing bird automata makes for high fashion

To celebrate her 20th anniversary in the business, British designer Lulu Guinness decided to make a singing bird automaton -- within a handbag!

She tapped Adam Wright, a film animatronics maker, to help with the mechanics of the piece. He, in turn, looked to Michael and Maria Start of Automatomania -- experts in the repair and restoration of automata -- for their specialized knowledge and skill.

According to Michael Start, "He spent a few days with us learning about singing birds and then sent us the bird body for Maria to feather in scarlet feathers."

When it was completed they went to an unveiling party at London's Victoria & Albert Museum -- a star studded event with the handbag as a center piece. It's official: automata have become high fashion!

Here is a video about the Singing Handbag.

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More info on antique smoking head automaton

Michael Start of AutomatomaniA has been kind enough to supply some additional information about the smoking head automaton we saw a few days ago.

Michael thinks the head dates from circa. 1865, though Maria thinks it may be as early as 1840. Additional photographs and a scan of the 1882 letter may be seen on his news page. The letter is in the last two photos of the sequence.

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Classic automata film: Princely Toys

Here is some very rare film footage of vintage French automata from the collection of Jack Donovan. The film was shot in 1976.

Thanks to Michael and Maria Start of Automatomania for this video.

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Fantastic disembodied smoking head automaton

Here's a short video of a fantastic disembodied head automaton that smokes!

From the video description:

A clockwork head that moves its glass eyes and smokes either a pipe or cigar. The head is made of papier mache and wood. The original wooden box contained envelopes of saltpetre and 'ribbon of bruge' to load the pipe with, also a letter dated 1882 explaining how to work it and confirming its sale to a London coffee shop.

Thanks to Michael and Maria at AutomatoMania for this video.

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