Day 36 - Miniature Magic Automata

We have two very tiny magic automata which make great last minute gifts.

The Sawing a Lady in half is a classic trick, the lady gets sawn in half before your very eyes (strong glasses may be required in some cases) or The Conjurer will pull a rabbit out of a hat. Operated by tiny wire handles, these are real conversation pieces.

These wonderful pieces are made by Angela and Laurence St Leger and we have been selling their work for over 20 years. The St Leger’s started off making miniatures for dolls houses, and the experimented with moving toy miniatures - their first design was Samson The Strong Man. They now have over 150 in their repertoire and rumour has it that astronaut and automata collector Richard Garriott took one into space with him.

Day 35 - The Temptation of St Anthony (after Salvador Dali)

This evening we bring you another magnificent large automaton. Tonight’s is from Keith Newstead, who has just finished this version of the Temptation of Saint Anthony, and was inspired by Dali’s painting of the supernatural scene, (below).

In Keith’s new version, Saint Anthony is found in a modern day desert setting, complete with crumbling devilish graffiti. His temptation comes in the form of a dancing girl, carried on the back of the wonderful spider-legged elephant.

Day 34 - Tipu’s Tiger

Tonight we bring you a really magnificent new piece from Carlos Zapata, inspired by the well known 18th century automaton at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (see below)

An unfortunate employee of the British East India Company is being savaged by a vicious tiger. Above him his fellow soldiers are on a campaign of war against the Indian Kingdom of Mysore, and further up we see the Sultan of Tipu, who was very fond of tigers, turning the handle of his own Tiger automaton.

Day 33 - The Search

Paul Spooner has stayed up late again… and made four of these intriguing pieces. Unusually the mechanism is not viewable, so guesswork is required.

Action. On turning the handle, the snorkeller undertakes an urgent and thorough search into all four corners of his patch of sea.

Caption on label “A lone snorkeller quarters a turquoise sea. The tropical hardwoods used in this piece have been responsibly harvested from antique furniture”.

Day 32 - The Wiggling Figure

We have one only of these beautiful pieces - the perfect last minute gift, (maybe for yourself!)

This androgynous piece was originally a one-off by Paul Spooner which graced the entrance of the Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden, splendid in it’s glass dome. The movement is derived from the rotating pelvis, (which is where all the best movements start,) and the face of the figure is reminiscent of the emcee of the Kit Kat Club in the film ‘Cabaret’ - so as they say.. ‘Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome, in Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret!