A very rare and clever toy produced in Germany approximately 1885 until about 1905. The little hand-cranked tin artist draws with a graphite stick onto paper via ‘programmed’ double-cams (x and y axis). I read about it in a book about magic/illusions, printed approximately 1899, when I was in 2nd grade and became obsessed with finding it. Some texts say it was an expensive wealthy person’s toy, and other texts mention it as a give-away to favorite clients of the firm Phillip Vielmetter Mechanische Werkstatten of Berlin, Germany. This ultra-rare original box was repaired by Randy’s Toy Shop. I suspect the 5 cams are from various production dates. They are labeled (in German): HAHN, KAKADU, GLADSTONE, HARLEKIN, AFFE. There are several more cams that I do not have, such as Napolean, Balzaax, Queen Victoria, and still others. There are signs of hand-painting touch-ups over the rear base of the neck and the right arm made during the original production process over 100 years ago. You will find these features on every Vielmetter ever made. Unfortunately the sharp metal pegs on the easel look like they have been repaired, replaced, or re-inforced. The bottom easel pegs look re-inforced and the top right peg is untouched. The easel legs/frames look oddly scratched (horizontal lines) but this is another misunderstood trait found in every one of these toys that I have seen. These horizontal lines were likely caused by the tooling that formed/bent the sheet metal into the easel …

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