IntroductionGB

The idea to create automata with human figures was born in various mythologies and legends. The human race has had a dream since the stone age: To have automatic help to do our work for us.
From the ancient time up to the beginning of the 20th Century, people tried time and again to build such machines. But such machines, although they were miracles of mechanics, were never very useful.

The Ancient Greeks were clearly obsessed with the notion of creating mechanical living beings. We do know that they had very advanced engineering skills and most certainly managed to make partially animated Statues which would be used in Ceremonies.


The idea to create automata with human figures was born in various mythologies and legends. The human race has had a dream since the stone age: To have automatic help to do our work for us. From the ancient time up to the beginning of the 20th Century, people tried time and again to build such machines. But such machines, although they were miracles of mechanics, were never very useful. The Ancient Greeks were clearly obsessed with the notion of creating mechanical living beings. We do know that they had very advanced engineering skills and most certainly managed to make partially animated Statues which would be used in Ceremonies.
In the 2th and 3th centuries BC, mechanists and mathematicians such as Philon of Byzantium and Heron of Alexandria, were the theorists of automata. In 13th century Europe, the jacks-of-the-clock, large figures made out of wood, or with iron or cast iron - armed with hammers, strike the bells for rhythm time, on the top of their bell-towers.
		Turk smoker, toward 1890 Museum of automata, York (England)
In the 18th century, technical progress and the miniaturisation of the mechanisms allow some automatists of genius like Jacques de Vaucanson, Jacquet-Droz, Friedrich Von Knaus and Maillardet to create some famous androids, writers, draughtsmen, musicians, etc. In 19th century, large companies are born and thrive: Théroude, Vichy, Roullet&Decamps, Phalibois, Triboulet and Lambert are among the most famous. Automata were many and diverse. They became magicians, clowns, musicians, dancers, etc.
	Produced in great numbers, these androids are less sophisticated than their ancestors of the 18th century. Till now, these works were very appreciated. A certain number of them are in museums, others are in private collections. Today, the magic universe of automata is still fascinates. It's enough to look at the crowd concentrated in front of some animated shop windows, the increasing number of collectors and the daily frequentation of the museums, etc. The continued popularity is in part thanks to some rare contempory automata creators like Michel Bertrand, François Junod, etc.
Clown Museum of automata, York (England)
Restoration of automata is an art and to create them still more. It needs patience and meticulousness for each detail of the decoration, each element of the mechanism, whether for the movement or the music.