Automatic doll; Leopold Lambert, France, c. 1880–1890.

Automatic doll; LEOPOLD LAMBERT France, c. 1880–1890.
“La Coquette au miroir”
Porcelain, fabric, and glass eyes.
In working condition.
In very good condition.
Measurements: 58 x 23 x 35 cm.
Salon automaton doll, “La Coquette au miroir” (The Coquette Before the Mirror), associated with the workshop of Léopold Lambert, one of the most prominent French manufacturers of automata in the late 19th century. These sophisticated pieces combined the tradition of luxury dolls with advances in mechanical clockmaking, becoming objects intended for entertainment as well as for contemplation and collecting.The figure depicts an elegantly dressed young woman admiring herself in a mirror, in a scene with a distinctly theatrical and costumbrista character.
Lambert’s production took place against the backdrop of the extraordinary expansion of French parlor automata during the last quarter of the 19th century, a time when Paris became one of Europe’s leading centers for the manufacture of these pieces. The incorporation of increasingly sophisticated mechanisms made it possible to depict everyday scenes, theatrical characters, musicians, dancers, and elegant female figures, intended primarily for bourgeois interiors and an audience fascinated by technical innovations.