Vichy’s Lune Fin de Siècle, estimated at $30,000-60,000 at Morphy.
The Lune Fin de Siècle is one of Vichy’s most recognisable automata. Used as a registered trademark on the company’s letterheads, labels and advertising, it was designed c.1891, probably by Henry Vichy (the founder’s son).
Employing a popular motif in French literature and visual culture of the period, the curious figure tilts his plaster-composition head from side to side, rolls his eyes and twirls his cane as he inhales from a lighted cigarette.
This example is estimated at $30,000-60,000.
