Love by Carlos Zapata

A new one-off piece from Carlos Zapata.
A couple in love fly endlessly around the earth, with a heart above them.
Beautiful colours and style.

Height 28 cm

Wood, metal, acrylic paint

One Only.
£595 (excl. VAT)

Toasted Heart by Paul Spooner

Pulling out the bottom drawer of this small chest of drawers makes two toasted hearts pop out of a toaster. Inside the drawer is the lever that lifts the toast but there is also room for a scroll of paper on which to inscribe a romantic message. Paper is supplied as well as a length of special red thread with which to bind it. Outside help may be required to tie the bow- do not fall into the trap of asking the intended recipient to do it or the whole surprise will be compromised.
This piece was inspired by a survey of people in long term relationships who, hearing on the radio that it’s Valentine’s Day and realising that they haven’t done anything about it, resort to the pathetic expedient of making breakfast for their loved ones incorporating toast cut into heart shapes.
Ingredients; wood, metal, paper, thread, grass.

Dimensions
140mm High x 50mm Wide x 45mm Deep

Edition of 12

IMPORTANT: If you wish to receive this item before 14th February 2012 – please choose express shipping to guarantee delivery in time.

Price: £137.50 (excluding VAT)

Fingers Mk II by Nik Ramage

An eternally tapping copy of the artist’s own hand. At the flick of a switch the resin cast fingers drum rhythmically until switched off. This is a limited Edition of 25 pieces.

Designed by Nik Ramage who describes himself as a mechanical sculptor who makes useless machines and invents contraptions that the world didn’t know it needed.

Materials: Cast aluminium resin, steel and motor.
Dimensions: Human hand.
Power: 2 x AA Batteries (included)

Available from February 2012.

£600 (excl. VAT)

Click here for more pictures.

Uneasy by Paul Spooner

A new piece from Paul Spooner.

“If you were trying to make a mechanism that transmitted rotary motion smoothly, here are three mechanisms to avoid.

1). The well-known sliding block mechanism which translates steady circular motion into a wobbly approximation of it.

2). A magnet rotating near another magnet which picks up its motion in a fitful manner.

3). A bearing which deviates from the ideal cylindrical form by having two ears, two noses and four eyeballs added to its circumference.

The result is an uneasy action which might not be desirable in many machines but is OK for this Shakespeare-inspired item. Comes with a very small pair of shoes and a facsimile of a spread from Sue Spooner’s school edition of Henry IV part 2.”

Limited Edition of 3 only

15cm wide by 15cm high by 5 cm deep

£575 (excl. VAT)

See more pictures here.

Not Yet by Paul Spooner

A new limited edition from Paul Spooner.

‘Another piece that exploits the attractive/repulsive effects of neodymium magnets. The handle turns a cylinder in which a magnet is inserted radially so that its poles alternate, causing a magnet buried in the fish to feel attracted or repelled by turns. The foil, which is pure tin and beautiful stuff in its own right, stops the fish from becoming airborne.
I didn’t think of a title until I was half-way through making the batch. When I was at art school there was a kiln in the pottery on which the tutor often chalked; “NOT YET” to stop people opening the door too soon. If I don’t admit to not knowing quite why this piece has the same title, some people might think that it represents some deep thought about time and existence.
Finishing them on Remembrance Day, and having to date-stamp them 11/11/11 will only add to the suspicion that I’ve started taking myself too seriously’.

Dimensions
80mm Wide x 40mm Deep x 50mm High

£41.50 (Excl. VAT)

Lab Birds

Fi Henshall’s latest piece The Lab Birds features two birds with an interest in science.
The intricate mechanism includes bellows, cams and linkages, which produce realistic bird tweets, and graceful movements on the inquisitive birds.
Wood, metal and paint.

Dimensions
40 cm High
21 cm Wide
13 cm Deep

£475 (excl VAT)

Sold

A Literary Feast by Fi Henshall

The latest automata edition from Fi Henshall features a beautiful but hungry bird, intent on devouring the book ‘Beasts’ by R C Bird.
Great style and movement.
This piece will be produced in an edition, and details may vary slightly. (Bespoke book title requests will be considered).

W 10cm
D 10cm
H 13cm

£195 (Excl. VAT)

See more pictures in the shop here.

The Turk – A Machine that Draws Forever by Paul Spooner

Paul Spooner’s latest piece in his series of machines which draw forever is a homage to the famous Chess Playing Turk automaton.

The New Turk is built on the standard chassis design of P. Spooner Stithians’s popular “Clever Hans” model but with a host of add-on goodies. The Turk, in this version, has tired of the usual challenges to his mechanical prowess and has set aside his chess set, Rubik’s Cube and Sudoku to embark on the incredible feat of Drawing Forever.

£2750 (excl. VAT)

Sold.

You can see more pictures and read the full story here.

Clever Hans the Intelligent Horse

Paul Spooner’s latest work features a complicated mechanism which draws the infinity symbol �??.

The story of Clever Hans is pretty well known. There’s a good account on Wikipedia with valuable links to other smart animal stories such as Nazi Talking Dogs and Lady Wonder, a mare with purported psychic powers which enabled her to foretell the outcomes of horse races. Clever Hans – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans flourished around the turn of the 20th century and communicated by means of hoof taps. If asked the square root of 49, he would bang the ground seven times and stop. He could compute the dates of Easter, in both the Catholic and Orthodox calendars and perform other complex calculations with great accuracy.

Thinking that such an intelligent animal might be frustrated by the limitations of hoof- tapping as a means of communication, I did this drawing to show how Hans might extend his repertoire into the graphic domain. Were someone to give him a sum to which the answer was �??infinity�?�, a less resourceful beast might be forced to tap on the ground an infinite number of times. To save himself from an eternity of tapping, I surmised that Hans might make imaginative use his god-given resources.

About a year later, I had developed the technology to make a model of this striking example of animal intelligence. Key to the design is the long conical spring wound from stainless steel wire, tipped with a small Neodymium magnet and sheathed in thin leather.

The mechanism that controls the movement of Hans’s drawing instrument is sketched below. It clearly shows the Cartesian coordinates; the X axis controlled by a crank producing harmonic motion and the Y axis by a sliding carriage governed by a cam.

The Hans sculpture is carved from limewood with additions crafted from leather, wire and a magnet as detailed above. The mechanism is largely made of oak recycled from a wardrobe.

Height 270mm x Width 270mm x Depth 100mm

Edition of 2 (1 remaining)

£1395 (excl. VAT)

The King and Queen of Hearts

A great collectors item from Fourteen Balls Toy Company.

A pair of tiny hand carved crowned royals, which vibrate lovingly on their spring mechanisms.

Both pieces are number 1 of the edition from January 2001.

Height of each piece 10 cm

Sold as a pair only.

£250 (excl. VAT)