There is an auction taking place in Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday,
March 6, 2010, of next week (New Zealand time).  There are several
pieces of automata that may be of interest to readers of MMD.  They
are a "Pierrot Serenading the Moon", "The City of Rome", a ship that
seems to sail on water with a moving background and balloon moving
across the sky and a large piece by Henri Phalibois of Leonardo Da
Vinci's "The Last Supper".

These pieces were gathered together in Europe by a showman around 1900
and eventually came to New Zealand along with more than 20 other pieces
around the 1930s.  Some of these pieces survived and are in overseas
collections and museums.  These ones have never been on the market
before and are part of a small number that have survived.  The catalogue
for the auction can be viewed on line at http://www.artandobject.co.nz/ 

Rod Cornelius

 [ Also offered are a Cuendet 12 aire music box, Organ musical box,
 [ a Polyphon and a 15-1/2" Regina disc musical box, a player reed organ,
 [ Improved Mandolina Organette, Rolmonica, J. Draper Orchestral Organette,
 [ Gothic 2-stop barrel church organ by John Fentum; see the catalog at
 [ http://www.artandobject.co.nz/files/Content/Pdf/2010/02/24/17,57,59,AO_Cat34.pdf 
 [ -- Robbie