Estimated at £5000-7000, it was sold for £10,000 (plus 15 per cent premium including VAT) to a local collector.
Rare monkey band automaton sells for £10,000
Highlight of the remainder of the Roy Mickleburgh collection sold by Bristol Auction Rooms on June 24 was this rare monkey band automaton, c.1870. The nine-piece chamber orchestra includes no fewer than 43 separate movements operated by a French mechanism and is housed in a rosewood veneered two-part case with a 48-note German-made crankwind barrel organ below playing a choice of seven tunes.
