Conjuror casts a £19,000 spell

The mixed medley that constitutes Christie’s South Kensington’s (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) periodic sales of mechanical music and technical apparatus can regularly be expected to include a selection of sewing machines, typewriters, phonographs, gramophones and various incarnations of musical boxes.

For their July 26 performance, the auctioneers also had a rather attractive selection of automata to…

Enjoy unlimited access: just £1 for 12 weeks

Subscribe now