Model of a Potter’s Workshop

Unknown

about 1900

Wood and metal

Height: 32cm

This potter’s workshop model is an ‘automaton’ or moving model, operated by a key on the reverse. The figure on the right turns the flywheel that drives the potter’s wheel, and his left arm rises intermittently to mop his brow with a rag. The potter moves his arms up and down to shape the revolving pot.

It may have been placed in the window of a potter’s workshop to attract passers-by.