Hoyt Living Picture
Hoyt Life Picture. USA. c.1910
The rare clockwork picture is designed to run for up to an hour or more on a winding. Changing expression slowly from a smile to a grimace and back again, using pierced paper overlays and a parallelogram linkage hidden in the thickness of the frame. The effect is magical and enigmatic especially if the viewer does not realise at first glance what is happening. The advertisement in the top left is for Homenta pastilles which would clear the head and result in a smile, very apt.
Automaton runs when wound. Paper with a few tears to background near top. Some edge rips and water damage to right side. Glazed plain black wooden frame with edge chips and losses to black paint. Approximately 16″w x 3 1/4″d x 20 3/4″h
Hoyt Life picture c.1910:
A contemporary instruction reads:
“This is intended to be hung on a wall like an ordinary framed picture, preferably where the light will strike it straight in front. Pictures should be kept always wound up and “shut off”, so that when it is desired to set picture in motion, it is ready. By turning on the movement unobserved the visitor is surprised and mystified. It is desirable that the person looking at the picture to be kept as far from it as possible, so as not to discover the method by which the face changes”
Note: Advertised as a “unique window attraction” capable of running for over five hours on one winding, these early mechanical pictures undoubtedly also found their way into casinos and saloons.
Specialist antique insurance can be arranged at 1% of value if required.
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