Ian McKay, Pearl, a hand-operated automaton, plain and painted wood, wire, string, titled...

Ian McKay, Pearl, a hand-operated automaton, plain and painted wood, wire, string, titled Pearl, signed and dated Ian McKay 1998, 37cm high; together with three other pieces by the same artist, comprising: Fish Rising to Bait, a hand-operated automaton, wood, coloured wood, feathers, cotton thread, approx. 25.1cm high, 7cm wide, 7.2cm deep; Three Tropical Fishes, a hand-operated automaton, wood, stained wood, stained sawdust, wire, feathers, 16.8cm high excluding feathers, 18cm wide, 4.1cm deep; and another similar titled Three Bees, a hand-operated automaton, wood, stained wood, stained sawdust, wire, feathers, approx. 19cm high, 18cm wide, 4.1cm deep (4)

Sir Nicholas Goodison noted:

Pearl: The neat young lady spins at high speed when the string is pulled, in the manner of a string top, and her arms and legs spread out as she spins. The string-pull is reabsorbed onto the shaft under its own momentum. Ian McKay trained as a ceramicist at Buckinghamshire College of Art and Design, before working for a printmakers supplier making wooden engraving blocks. He taught three-dimensional skills at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Woldingham. He planned to become a blacksmith but turned to small toys, particularly boats made from paper, wire and matchboxes. He worked under Jim Edmiston in Bath, received grants from the Crafts Council and has been making automata and mechanical toys since about 1990. He has exhibited regularly at the main craft shows and through the main retailers. He also teaches at West Dean College.

Fish Rising to Bait: The cam pushes the dowel on which the fish is mounted upwards and the fish revolves as it reaches for the bait. The winding handle broken off owing to the extreme stiffness of the cam.

Three Tropical Fishes: The three fishes swim up and down, the outer two rotating as they do so, the fish in the centre turning from left to right and back, probably wondering why the others are in a spin. The outer fishes are driven by friction contrate wheels, the middle one by two eccentric cams and a friction wheel. The mechanism is closely similar to the Three Bees.

Provenance:

Pearl: Purchased, Hitchcocks, Somerset, 6th Annual Toy and Automata Exhibition, May-June 1998.

Fish Rising to Bait: Purchased, Crafts Council Shop, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, October 1995.

Three Tropical Fishes: Purchased, Hitchcocks, Bath, May 1994.

Roseberys do not guarantee the working order of any automata or toy.