Is that snake real? Incredible footage of a vintage snake-charmer automaton

My previous post was about "Zulma, La Charmeuse de Serpent" (Zulma, The Snake-Charmer) created by Gaston Decamps around 1907. VERITAS Art Auctioneers in Lisbon, Portugal will be auctioning off this rare automaton today, June 24th 2014 .

Here is video footage of the piece in question. Just incredible!

Contact information for VERITAS Art Auctioneers:
Address: Av. Elias Garcia, 157 A/B  1050-099 Lisboa, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 794 8000
Email: info@veritasleiloes.com
Web:  http://veritasleiloes.com

[ Thanks Falk! ]

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Zulma, The Snake-Charmer automaton to be sold on June 24th, 2014

Just a few days from now, VERITAS Art Auctioneers in Lisbon, Portugal will be auctioning off a rare and important automaton. Titled "Zulma, La Charmeuse de Serpent" (Zulma, The Snake-Charmer), the piece was made by the famous by Gaston Decamps in 1907.

From the catalog description:

Rare automaton with winding mechanism and four melodies, resin and card face and body with joints hidden by jewels of oriental inspiration in gilt metal and paste On a painted wood base with coin slot and velvet carpet in green and red embroidered in metal yarn. This model shows the snake-charmer in a silk embroidered gown girded by a scarf When in movement the figure dances to the music and the snake’s head moves at the same rhythm.

I've seen one of these in person some years ago at a Skinner auction. It was stunning!

Contact information for VERITAS Art Auctioneers:
Address: Av. Elias Garcia, 157 A/B  1050-099 Lisboa, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 794 8000
Email: info@veritasleiloes.com
Web:  http://veritasleiloes.com

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The Amazing Journey - a bicycle automaton with parallax effect

Automatist Keith Newstead has made many pieces featuring bicycles, but this one has got to be one of the most intricate and grand that we've ever see here at The Automata Blog. The automaton was a commissioned piece and is titled The Amazing Journey

Th Amazing Journey

Newstead explains the origin of the piece:

John Lau has asked me to make a different version of my automaton 'Brians Brilliant Bike'. He would like me to feature his wife, Vivien, surrounded by all of their pets. He wants the automaton to remember his wedding -- such a nice thing to do.

The depiction of the human characters, John And Vivien, is lovely.

The bold colors and menagerie of the animated creatures adds tremendous amount life to the piece. This is a video you can watch more than once. Did you notice the acrobatic mouse on the front wheel of the bike? The rabbit's swagger as it conjures? The gentle swaying of the snake?

Mechanically, there is a lot to take in: pulleys, belts, linkages, joints, rotating objects as well as the metal combined with wood. Most fascinating for me, is the extremely clever rotating background. By rotating several discs behind the scene at different speeds, Newstead has simulated a parallax effect with wood and paint!

As usual, the artist has some great in-the-making photographs of the automaton on his blog. Check them out.

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