Okay… technically, it’s an automaton and not a robot but still! This animated dulcimer player is called the Joueuse de Tympanon. She was built in 1772 by Pierre Kintzing and David Roentgen for Marie Antoinette. At just eighteen inches tall, she plays eight different songs. She was restored in 1864 by Robert-Houdin and is now at the Musée des Arts et Métiers
Very arresting and dream-sparking. Thanks for sharing.
There’s a whole DVD of automata? I swoon! I love automata immoderately, and thank you, once again, for trolling the Internets for this kind of thing so I don’t have to. Because I’m so very bad at it, and you are good.
Are you going to WFC?