Automaton Odalisque (Updated June 16, 2023)

This hoochie coochie cutie is a bit of a mystery. Just 4.5 inches tall, the sultry sultana, who represents a Middle Eastern belly dancer, has a metal body and a bisque head. The head is German and no later than the early 1900s. The remains of her outfit are silk, now fragile and deteriorating with age. 

Her lower abdomen is a domed metal piece, separate from the rest of the body, which is molded in one piece, and when the screw projecting from the back is moved in a circular motion, she does a belly roll that would make Little Egypt jealous!  

Further, moving the metal loops behind her neck causes her head to turn slightly side to side. I have checked and other than the typical mold mark on the back of the head, there are no other marks. 

  

She certainly was once part of some mechanism that made her perform. Perhaps some sort of coin-operated amusement or vending machine? An automated peepshow?

I think that may have found the original automaton, or something certainly very like it. This coin operated countertop automation was sold by Donley Auctions on May 16, 2020. The auction listing described the piece as "Wood case with glass front. Features three bare breasted dancing belly dancers. When coin is deposited the center one shimmies and shakes." The listing stated that the belly dancers measure about 6 inches tall each, but in the pictures they appear to be standing on circular bases, which would increase their height. Unfortunately, the listing saying nothing about the maker or the possible date of manufacture. The pictures sadly are not very clear and I could not enlarge them enough to get a better look at the little belly dancers, but the one in the center does appear to have a head that is of a different material from her body. If anyone has more information on this marvelous mechanized harem, I would most appreciate it if you would share it with me!

Someone Needs a Hug. . . .

Known aptly as "The Hugger," this erotic ivory miniature is one of the best known, and most controversial, works by Bruno Zach. Her enthusiastic embrace of a gigantic male member certainly suggests that for her, size really does matter.

Born in the Ukraine in 1891, as a young man Zach migrated to Austria to study sculpture at the Vienna Academy. A skilled artist with a wicked sense of humor, Zach specialized in depicting lithe young sexually liberated women, often in various states of undress, as they danced, posed, engaged in sports (of all kinds), and sometimes indulged in some rather kinky antics. His works appear in bronze, chryselephantine, and, far less commonly, ivory.  A mere two inches tall, this very naughty little nymph and the oversized object of her affection is beautifully carved, from the details of her face to the bows on her stocking garters. Although there are no marks, fine crosshatching, known as Schreger lines, is visible underneath, identifying this as elephant ivory. 

Zach apparently decided that his creation was not quite naughty enough, so he depicted the enamored miss with the back of her chemise open, baring her bottom. "The Hugger" has been widely reproduced in bronze, the more modern castings lacking the fine details and cold-painted patina of Zach's original works.  This may be one of Zach's most copied works, along with "The Riding Crop," a sculpture depicting a partially nude woman standing with her legs spread in a pose that is both inviting and imperious, as she holds the eponymous riding crop behind her back.