This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 8/24/2019
Drinking Monkey Automaton. Circa 1900. Seated monkey figure holds a bottle in one hand and a cup in the other. When the mechanism is activated, he raises the bottle above the cup, pours a drink, and then raises the cup to his lips to drink. Real fur-covered body, leather face, wooden hands, and glass eyes. Internal clockwork mechanism. Height 12”. With a custom-made acrylic vitrine. Hands worn; good working condition. An earlier and scarcer version of this perennially-popular version of the drinking animal than those in the preceding lots. Versions of this automaton were fixtures in storefront windows for generations. This example is in choice, well-preserved condition.