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Duet
These are two life-size mechanical dolls, playing baroque duets. The lady is Antoinette, a 16-year-old French noble, playing the lute. He is her 13-year-old brother, Antoine, who plays the blockflute (recorder).
Antoinette moves her fingers, head, eyes and lids. Antoine does the same, plus moves his hands and "takes in air" into his chest before starting his part. They play three tunes of English and French 17th century composers. Music tune may be switched at any time in any order. In the Antoinette pedestal there is a mechanical harpsichord (rectangular octave-spinet) with nylon strings, which imitates the lute music. There is a folding door at the front of this compartment to allow the spinet to be tuned. The hands, head and chest movements of Antoine correspond to every music piece.
Two heavy spring motors have been designed for this automaton, as well as a mechanical harpsichord, a small "young lady's" lute, a rank of organ tubes hidden in Antoine's chest, and two music cylinders with more than 1000 program pins.
It took about a year to create this unique DUET, one-of-a-kind in the world. Anatoly wants to say "thank you" to those who helped him in this project: Leonid Zayaruzny, Elena Vasilenko and Patricia Rose, and of course Richard Garriott, the collector who owns now this piece of automata art.