Comments on: 1889 Living Picture or Clockwork Tableau

By: gisnap

gisnap — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:00:50 +0000

Its really cool, I came to know this really worth visiting, just bookmarked your site.

http://gisnap.com/
The place where fun never ends

By: paul

paul — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:17:51 +0000

I understand a limited number of mechanical pictures are now being made which are battery powered rather than clockwork. I saw one of a 2 dimeninsonal black man in a checkered shirt whose eyes and mouth moved. Does anyone know who is doing these wonderful pieces.

By: Dr.Silas Harriden

Dr.Silas Harriden — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:29:19 +0000

God Bless this Loverly Steampunk collective i just found this, there is hope for nano steam punk!! http://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/images/Iqbal22.JPG

By: Jake of All Trades

Jake of All Trades — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 02:11:55 +0000

Happenstance, for sure, but I shall endeavor to find it once again…

Click clack hiss whir

By Jove, I’ve found it! I apparently misspoke earlier, as it seems to be a hygrometer rather than a barometer… Anywhom, here it be: http://www.earlytech.com/common/show_item.phtml?Id=1101405708

By: Franklin Wrayburn

Franklin Wrayburn — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:41:08 +0000

Jake, I must say, that barometer sounds absolutely fascinating! Might you have a link to it, or did you fall upon it by happenstance?

By: Jake of All Trades

Jake of All Trades — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 19:06:50 +0000

I saw something similar recently that was actually a barometer. It had a monk who’s arm moved to point out weather conditions. When it was rainy, he put up his hood! Something similar is most definityl on my “to build” list O_Q

By: Beverly Wilgus AKA Camera Obscura

Beverly Wilgus AKA Camera Obscura — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 03:29:13 +0000

I am glad you enjoyed our Living Picture. I see a lot of clockwork on your site so thought it might appeal. I have found a few references to the genre which I am happy to share with you. I am not sure about posting links so I will just give the URLs.

http://www.deadmedia.org/notes/3/039.html The Dead Media Project – a short entry on “living pictures” which gave me the title of one of the helpful books I will list.

http://www.oldtoyz1.com/moreclockwork.html – a page of clockwork toys in the collection of Carol and Dallas. http://www.oldtoyz1.com/ Is their home page. Your readers may also want to check it out since there are links to several pages of steam toys.

I found reference to two books that I was able to get on interlibrary loan:

“Mechanical Toys”, by Athelstan and Kathleen Spilhaus, Random House, 1989 was mentioned in the Dead Media article. It is a book on collecting mechanical toys that had several pages of useful information.

“Automata and Mechanical Toys” by Rodney Peppé http://www.amazon.com/Automata-Mechanical-Toys-Rodney-Peppe/dp/1861265107 is a book on making automata (which might be of interest to your readers) with an excellent chapter on the history of mechanical toys.

Between the two books we were able to establish that ours was not by Schoenhut but by a German maker.

Thanks again for posting our treasure. We are entranced by it and like to share it.