Denslow's Mother Goose

Here's another wonderful piece that doesn't belong to me, although I have seen it in person. The photo is from an auction house listing from quite a while ago - I'm afraid I've forgotten which one!

This is a clockwork display for Denslow's Mother Goose. It is wound with a key, and the head nods while the beak opens and closes. It dates from around 1901, the year that W. W. Denslow's book was published.

I saw this at a New York Book Fair several years ago, in Justin Schiller's booth. It's a very unique piece, believed to have originated at a Chicago department store. It's the only one of its kind known, and really a lot of fun! I like to think of this as an interesting precursor to L. Frank Baum's clockwork man, Tik-Tok - even though there's no real connection between the two.