"Jean Qui Pleure" Musical Automaton by Gustave Vichy, c. 1895

Modeled as a crying boy atop a school bench, with plaster-composition character head, original paint, narrowed brown glass eyes, open-closed mouth with painted teeth and tongue, brown mohair wig, papier-mâché dunce's cap with articulated metal donkey ears, bisque hands, four-cam going-barrel movement stamped "G. Vichy, Paris" and accompanying two-air cylinder movement, dressed in original red-and-white wool vest, satin waistcoat, shirt, striped velvet breeches, handkerchief, stockings and leather shoes, ht. 19 in., with acorn stop/start, five fingers repaired, tip of right little finger missing. – Literature: Bailly "Automata, the Golden Age", pp. 104 and 244. – The title of Vichy's automaton was probably a reference to Jacques Offenbach's 1864 operetta "Jeanne Qui Pleure & Jean Qui Rit" ("Joan who Cries and John who Laughs). The 'sister' piece to this automaton, titled "Jeanne qui Rit", depicts a smiling girl on a school bench. – The expressive features of both figures are characteristic of the automata produced under Gustave and (his son) Henry Vichy's creative collaboration during the 1890s. Similar faces are also found modeled in wax as a pair of school boys and in bisque as the laughing/crying "surprise" doll by Leon Casimir Bru. – Jean nods and shakes his head in a circular motion as he peers at the book, raises his right arm to his eyes as though crying and kicks his left leg impatiently. Vichy adds a characteristic element of humor to the scene as the boy's donkey-like ears, appearing to take on a life of their own, flap up and down. A classic Vichy automaton in good, original working condition.

布雷克拍品等级是为了方便竞买人判断拍卖品的成色而设置的。布雷克等级用1到6级来标注外观和功能的成色，(从非常好到非常差)。 在目录图册里用括号里的2个数字来表示，前一个数字表示外观成色的级别，后一个数字表示功能成色的级别。如(3/2)表示外观成色是3(满意的)，功能成色2(好)。 成色 定义参照下列标准： 1 - 非常好 (未使用过，没有使用痕迹) 2 - 好 (新，极少的使用痕迹) 3 - 满意的 (普通的使用痕迹) 4 - 及格的 (明显的使用痕迹，某个非主要部件是后配的) 5 - 有缺陷的 (极明显的使用痕迹, 某个主要部件是后配的，功能上有缺陷，需要修理) 6 - 非常差 (严重破损, 缺少重要部件)