Musical Diorama
The Flour Mill with Boat on the Sea, a large musical automaton diorama. Made in Paris in c.1885.
Size of 28 inches high by 20 inches wide
In excellent original condition, all the moving features working perfectly. Clockwork mechanism of long duration with pull cord musical accompaniment. Original dome in perfect condition and finely painted on the inside.
One of the largest and most complex of these popular Parlour pieces ever made.
This diorama has a cast of 7 small figures arranged in an imaginative narrative of Toil and Love. The flour sacks ascend endlessly to the mill window and the Miller appears and disappears through the slamming doors of the Mill House bent double by the weight of his sacks. A young couple sail away on a small sailboat watched fondly by another Lady on the shore. The music has a lively melody in perfect keeping with all the activity shown in this microcosm, safely contained in its original glass dome.
Provenance, previously in the collection of a famous musician. Pictured and described in an 1885 catalogue in the V&A Museum archive in London (see photos).
Price: P.O.A
UK shipping by arrangement.