Friday Video: A Golden Music Box with a Rope Dancer, c1785

Susan reporting,

Loretta and I both have a well-documented ( here , here , and here ) weakness for automatons and other mechanical trinkets for the very wealthy in the 18thc. Automatons were often made as a collaboration between jewelers and watchmakers,  and it's difficult to say whether this luxurious little beauty is a music-box masquerading as jewelry, or an ornament that makes music. Imagine a gentleman taking this from the deep pockets of his coat to entertain his friends, or a lady keeping it among the other amusements on her bedside table, ready to wind up and play for a special child.

Automated music-box, gold, Geneva, c1785. Victoria & Albert Museum.

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