The Ricky Jay Collection Part III

[AUTOMATA]. Group of Automata Prints and Ephemera. Nine pieces, including: Hand-colored etching depicting the dwarf automaton “Madamoiselle Catherina” being presented on a terrace to an elegant gentleman and lady by three itinerant French musicians, one playing the hurdy-gurdy and another with a magic lantern strapped to his back. [London]: C. Grignion, 1743. The image is taken from one of a series of large paintings commissioned by Jonathan Tyers (1702 – 1767) and created by Francis Hayman (d. 1776) to decorate the supper-boxes at the famous Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in London, which were among the first displays of contemporary British art that was readily accessible to the public. Closely trimmed to 13 ½ x 10”, and lacking most of the original lower captioning. Chipping and soiling, dampstain to lower quarter, old mounting residue to verso; —Pictorial letterpress broadside bearing an engraved image of an elaborate automaton-like clock supported by a fountain with pedestal and shell base, surrounded by figural sculptures which all pour forth streams of water. N.p., 1749. The broadside, in French, advertises “for the last time” a demonstration of this clock to take place followed by an exhibition of fireworks by Carlo Genovini from Italy. Trimmed, creases, light foxing; —Pictorial etching depicting an automaton consisting of a trio of musicians performing around a harpsicord on top of which stands a cherubic figure, his head surmounted with flame, being presented to a French Minister of the State by its inventor, Robert Richard. [Paris]: De Longueil, 1769. Based on a design by Charles Eisen (1720 - 1778), captioned above and below. Exemplars, p. 176.—One-page letterpress sheet entitled A Description of a Musical Altar-Clock; In the possession of Mr. Greene, Litchfield. [England: ca. 1788]. Detailing the characteristics of a large and ornate automaton-like clock that stood over nine feet tall, with various moving parts, which also played a “variety of tunes.” Richard Greene (1716 – 1793) was an English collector who operated a museum of curiosities in Litchfield. Dampstains, repaired lower left corner with loss to text; —Eight uncut letterpress pages, in German, detailing the exhibition of automata by Pierre-Jacques Droz (1721 - 1790), and his son Henri Louis Jacques Droz (1752 - 1791), including an engraved illustration of the famed mechanical trio. Munich: J. Schreiber, [ca. 1790s] Folded to 9 x 6”. Tiny chips to edges, light toning; —Small newspaper clipping of an advertisement for an “Automatical Theatre” exhibiting automata such as a gymnastic dancer, a “little artist” who “draws and writes,” a mechanical peacock, and a “necromancer” that “resolves enigmas,” as well as a “Phantasmagoria, with most wonderful magic effects.” [London: ca. 1810]. —Letterpress broadside playbill advertising “Bologna’s Exhibition” (John Peter Bologna 1775 - 1846), a five-part show, including “New & curious Pieces of Mechanism,” Parisian monkeys who perform on the tight and slack rope, and “artificial or mechanical fire works.” London: Lowndes, 1817. Creases, tiny losses, soiling; —One-page ALS written by Benjamin Winslow to William Meredith. Dated May 8, 1821. Being an account of a presentation in Boston of Marsden Haddock’s famous “Androides,” automata from England. Old folds, toning and light chipping; — Three examples from contemporary American artist Tim Hawkinson’s (b. 1960) piece, Signature (1993), executed at LACMA in 2005. Being a replica of the artist’s signature in black ink on small slips of white paper as written by his automaton sculpture.