An extremely rare monkey ‘chamber orchestra’ automata musical picture, made in France in c. 1855 and signed ‘Riviere’.
The picture is in extraordinarily good original condition, with bright vivid colours that have survived the last 170 remarkably well. It features 6 monkey musicians elegantly dressed in bright clothing, some even wearing tinted glasses, and playing an array of musical instruments while a dog barks before them. They all perform beneath a portrait of a monkey wearing laurels more than a little reminiscent of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as a rendition of a Spanish bodegon still life painting behind the piper’s head. In the conductor’s hat on the floor is the signature ‘Riviere’.
There are 12 separate movements to the figures and the accompanying barking dog, all controlled by an intricate and complicated system of pulleys, strings and weights that amazingly has also survived intact. Notice, for example, some of the original French newspaper that was used to create a weight on one of the counterbalances, along with the dots of red wax holding it all in place. This system is driven by its own separate running motor wound on the left hand side of the frame, and operated by a sliding mother-of-pearl button on the right hand side of the picture.
The musical movement operates separately. It is a Swiss movement made by Lecoultre of Geneva, Switzerland with serial number 6593, playing four tunes with a lively sound as detailed on the original tunesheet that is housed in the rear of the picture alongside the movement. The tunes are:
1: Drum Drum Drum
2: Polka de Jenny Lind (composed in 1846)
3: Valse Une Nuit a Grenade
4: La Marguerite du Val de Andorre
The movement is wound on the right hand side of the picture. It is activated by a cord hanging from the underside of the frame and plays the tunes sequentially one tune at a time with each pull of the cord.
Both the musical movement and the automata mechanism have recently been fully serviced by specialist restorers to put them in the best possible working condition. The picture also retains its original winding key, and we have a diagram of the stringing in case any should come loose.
The black frame is original with some losses to its moulding but considering the age it is, again, a remarkable survivor.
This picture is a real treasure. It is exceptionally large, as most other examples were made later in the 19th century and were usually a quarter of this size. In 55 years of dealing in mechanical music antiques and automata I have only heard of 2 other examples like this, but the condition of this example really is extraordinary. It is a magnificent survivor.
More details: www.vincentfreemanantiques.com/cylinder-music-box/lecoultre-riviere