The Jaquet Droz Magician

The Jaquet Droz Magician

In the age of the Enlightenment, the striking realism of a trio of mechanical figures manufactured at the workshops of master clockmaker Pierre Jaquet Droz dazzled the royal courts of Europe. The Musician, The Writer and The Draughtsman went on to become bona fide legends and are now exhibited at the Museum of Art and History in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

Reviving the art of creating mechanical marvels that take one's breath away, the Manufacture Jaquet Droz is presenting a new automaton, The Magician. The product of six months' labour, this treasure of technology, driven by a mechanism with 1,437 parts and components, pushes the house grasp of detail farther than ever to achieve a surprising and unprecedented effect. The artisan and craft skills in which Jaquet Droz has specialized, all deployed in the course of the manufacturing process, were instrumental to achieving this captivating result. 

With a few turns of a key, The Magician comes alive. As it turns its head from right to left, looking at its audience with an amazingly human gaze, its arms begin to move and its hands raise one bell-shaped cover after another. Like an illusionist, he makes a bird appear, flying up from out of the surface of the table, sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left. The smoothness of the movements and the vivid quality of the gaze come as a prelude to the delicacy of the bird, carefully hand-painted and hand-engraved by the artisans at the Manufacture, which then starts to pivot. As its plumage vibrates, its tail and beak move, and its song fills the air.

 A true exploit of craftsmanship, The Magician is a celebration of the traditional skills that have shaped the Manufacture’s history. The combination of precious materials used – gold, ebony and marquetry rosewood inlay – enhances the beauty of this one-of-a-kind creation. Forged by human hands, The Magician will not fail to exert the same fascination today as it did on royal families centuries ago, proving that the emotions are no stranger to time travel.