Automaton
Category
Toys
Date
Unknown
Materials
Papier-mâché, wood, glass and fabric
Measurements
Case - 265 mm (length); 183 mm (width); 260 mm (height), Each piece of clothing (min) - 68 mm (length); 42 mm (width), Each piece of clothing (max) - 150 mm (length); 160 mm (width)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 663994
Summary
A sealed papier-mâché cobbler, enclosed within a glass dome, supported on a wooden base. He has painted facial details with white sheep's wool eyebrows and hair. He is wearing a white cotton shirt with a red fabric waistcoat and black neckerchief. He has fabric or papier-mâché trousers painted black with knitted khaki green hose and black painted paper shoes. A hole is drilled through each hand holding strings knotted together. The core of the figure could possibly be made of wood. He is seated on a wooden workbench, part of which is subdivided into five compartments, with a simulated treadle beneath the bench which has four wooden legs fixed to a square wooden plinth. A black leather and wood log is loose on the base. There are four pieces of unfinished handmade clothing for the cobbler, stored separately. The clothes are very creased and fragile making it difficult to measure them. They show signs of moth holes. Three of the pieces are made of brown cotton, the fourth piece is made of brown cotton and red brushed cotton. Total number of items is 8.