Automaton "Girl with Birds and Flowers" Belle Époque polychrome biscuit head and hands papier-mâché, wood and other materials body, clothes and stole in various materials, glass eyes, burgundy velvet covered wooden base European 19th/20th C. minor faults and defects, stains, mechanism with broken string, maintenance required head marked 4418 on the back Dimensões (altura x comprimento x largura) - (total) 47 cm Notes: Automatons, also known as automata or automaton, had movement and musical mechanisms and typically represented children, animals and fortune tellers. However, there was also a predilection for the grotesque, such as demons, sorcerers, snake charmers, and humans with animal faces. They were generally very expensive and not considered children's toys in the true sense of the word, although children always remembered them, as many of these automatons were used in the windows of famous stores at Christmas and to advertise certain products.