David Roentgen (1743--1807) took his royal patron by surprise when he delivered this beautiful automaton to King Louis XVI for his queen, Marie Antoinette, in 1784. An impressive mechanism moved (& still moves) a true neoclassical masterwork [full video: buff.ly/3fyEIGL]
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Another video of this showing more detail including mechanism:
Joueuse de Tympanon - automate
m.youtube.com/watch?v=75CXFw
"David Roentgen was a German cabinet maker of the 18th century, famed throughout Europe for his marquetry, secret drawers & mechanical fittings."
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Whoa is this for real? So beautiful & ahead of Time & if I may dare to say the performance is high-end with a finesse that exceeds many of our modern day robots!
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You should see this beauty from the Bowes Museum:
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She’s mesmerizing ✨
Years ago I worked with a few top antique doll collectors & the automata dolls always fascinated me 🤩