This almost-life size figure depicts a man playing a flute, fingering
the instrument for each tune. His head motions to the instrument for each
selection, then away at the end of the melody, as he intermittently blinks
his eyelids. The music is actually provided by a four-tune organ with
Vienna flute pipes to feign or imitate the sound of the real flute. The
entire, spring-wound mechanism, including the organ, is contained within
the figure ’s torso.
This model was patented by Alexandre Nicolas Théroude in 1866,
and his signature can be found on the interior. Another Parisian automata
maker, Jean Roullet, later adopted the model.
