Tea Drinker Automaton. Japan: Tanaka Hisashige [attr.], ca. mid-19th century. Small Japanese figure seated on a plush-covered pedestal holds a fan in one hand and a cup in the other. Without apparent outside influence or motivation, the doll-size figure moves his head, hands, and neck to simulate the act of drinking tea. 10 x 6 x 14" inclusive of base. Rubbing and chips to painted elements, wear and tear to fabric. Platform added later. Controlled with threads running through the figure and base to tabs below; originally this automaton likely sat on a much more elaborate base filled with wooden cams that, when rotated, put the proto-robot through its paces. Hisashighe's most famous automatons – karakuri dolls that operated apparently of their own accord – was an archer figure that would draw a bow and fire a small arrow. He founded the company that would become Toshiba. This automaton was purchased by Klosterman from the Circus Museum of Sarasota collection and may have been, at one time, in the collections of Dr. Samuel Cox Hooker and John McManus.