Rare 'smoking gentleman' automaton to go under hammer

​ The automaton was made in France circa 1880 by Gustave Vichy, renowned for his fine mechanical figures.

Gustave Vichy (1839-1904) was born into a family business that made mechanical toys; however, when he was 23 his father went bankrupt, and Gustave set up his own factory.

The factory made beautifully crafted, musical automatons in a wide variety of materials, all clothed in fashionable garments made by Gustave’s wife, Maria.

A Private Collection of Music Boxes on offer covers the full range of mechanical music, with disc and cylinder music boxes, phonographs, pneumatic organs and a gramophone.

Highlights include a Two-Per-Turn Full Oratorio Musial Box by Nicole Frerés, leading Swiss musical box makers of the 1800s.

The box plays 12 airs including passages from Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, and Mendelsohn’s Elijah among others, and is offered with an estimate of £1,000-1,500.

Also of note are a Symphonion Disc Musical Box with Bells Accompaniment (estimate: £800-1,200), and a large Early 19th Century Chamber Barrel Organ-On-Stand, probably made by Flight and Robson (estimate: £1,200-1,800).

Another interesting piece is the 'Tradesman's' Key-Wind Full-Operatic Musical Box, by Nicole Frerés (estimate: £600-900); these were samples used by salesmen and were usually of better quality than those made for retail.

Among a good selection of cameras is a Private Collection of modern Leica film cameras, which includes a Leica M6 Anton Bruckner Camera, produced as a limited edition to celebrate the centenary of the composer’s death in 1896. It comes with certificate and complete set of Bruckner’s symphonies on CD (estimate: £2,000-3,000).

There’s also a limited edition Leica M6 Ein Stuck Camera with certificate, accessories and original box (estimate: £1,500-2,000).

Notable cameras from other vendors include a Hasselblad XPan II Camera (estimate: £1,500-2,000), and a Hasselblad 501CM Camera (estimate: £800-1,200).

A Private Collection of Banjos on offer in the musical instruments section, has good quality, useable banjos including one by Clifford Essex & Son, inlaid with mother of pearl (estimate: £800-1,200).

Guitar highlights include a Gibson Les Paul Custom Electric Guitar (estimate: £2,000-3,000), and a Rickenbacker 360 12-String Semi Acoustic Guitar (estimate: £800-1,200).

Finally, there’s a huge pair of binoculars measuring nearly one metre in length. The Fujinon EM-SX 25x150 Binoculars will be offered with an estimate of £2,000-3,000, in a fitted metal trunk with stand.