Patent drawings were rarely submitted, and when they were, they were incomplete and tended to misguide the viewer. So that access to them was possible only by forcibly breaking into the bodies and the backs of the skulls. Historically, automaton builders were notoriously secretive.Īutomaton studios, ateliers and factories often hid the mechanisms of the pieces they sold to the public by sealing them into the heads and bodies of the figures, With charm, verve and aplomb they did tricks, played musical instruments, They were exhibited to crowds of admiring and amazed viewers who paid to see these “androids” performing actions nearly identical to those of a real human being. The far more complicated “one off” pieces, like the works by Jacques Vaucanson, and later, Henri Maillardet, were toured widely, sometimes all over Europe, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The wealthy bourgeoisie, to delight their children and guests. The simpler automata of that time were intended as “jouets,” or elaborate and lovely toys, manufactured in quantity from proprietary designs, and bought by the newly prosperous middle class, Some were made as mechanical figures for clock towers, but as more and more fabrication shops opened, automata were made for collectors: Most of these beautifully crafted masterpieces were made in France, many were also made in Germany. These automata were mostly figurative, and imitated quite realistically the movements of humans and animals…and some animals acting like humans.
Strong mainsprings turned the gears, cams and linkages created movement. Clockwork Automata: During the Golden Age of automata, mainly the 17th through the 19th Centuries, most automata were operated by clockwork.
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