Details
Image(s)
TitleMusical Automaton, 'the Smoker'
Creator Jean Marie Phalibois, Douillon
PlaceParis (France), Aalst (Belgium)
Year ca. 1880
Object number0872
Object nameautomaton with playing comb, automaton with cylinder
DescriptionAfter a lit cigarette is placed in the cigarette holder, the machine can actually "smoke". The moment the figure brings a lit cigarette to his mouth, the bellows at the bottom of the wooden base draw air through the cigarette. The inhaled smoke is fed to the bellows through a tube in his arm. The moment the bellows close again, this tube is squeezed shut, allowing the smoke to escape again through a second tube running to the mouth. During the 1992 restoration, these artificial lungs had to be replaced, not only because of tar deposits, but also because there were holes in the bellows caused by sparks that flew in from the lit cigarette.
Accompanying textsThe automaton has a cylinder movement with a musical comb with 37 teeth. The cylinder can play one tune, which is a waltz.
In the late nineteenth century, several firms produced this type of smoking automaton.
The interior of this instrument is signed Douillon, but it could also be attributed to Phalibois because of the very strong similarities in the interior to other Phalibois products.
By the 1800s, the French had colonized many islands in the West Indies, including Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada and Tobago, as well as other parts of the world. This colonial expansion was very often accompanied by a kind of perverse, ambivalent interest on the part of the colonizer in colonized peoples and their cultures. Automata such as these can be seen as a reflection of this ambivalent obsession.
In the late nineteenth century, several firms produced this type of smoking automaton.
The interior of this instrument is signed Douillon, but it could also be attributed to Phalibois because of the very strong similarities in the interior to other Phalibois products.
By the 1800s, the French had colonized many islands in the West Indies, including Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Dominica, St. Lucia, Grenada and Tobago, as well as other parts of the world. This colonial expansion was very often accompanied by a kind of perverse, ambivalent interest on the part of the colonizer in colonized peoples and their cultures. Automata such as these can be seen as a reflection of this ambivalent obsession.
Dimensions
geheel height: 50 cm
geheel width: 30 cm
geheel depth: 26 cm
cilinder length: 4.2 cm
cilinder diameter: 1.6 cm
geheel width: 30 cm
geheel depth: 26 cm
cilinder length: 4.2 cm
cilinder diameter: 1.6 cm
Digital references