11 Creepy Automatons Plotting Uprising

Automaton FriarThe clockwork monk appears.This clockwork monk dates to the 16th century. It wanders, moving its arms in prayer. Its eyes shift side to side. It raises a rosary and strikes its chest, a gesture common in Catholic mass. People do not know its true origins, but the common story says 16th-century Spanish clock maker Juanelo Turriano built it.

King Philip II ordered Turriano to build the monk while his son recovered from a terrible sickness. The King prayed for his son and promised a miracle. This automaton, praying endlessly, acts as his earthly miracle. The Smithsonian has owned the monk since the 1970s.

This bizarre automaton is calledLe Buffet Magique is the item.Auguste Triboulet made "The Magic Cupboard" for the Paris company Vichy in 1910. A young boy opens the cabinet for jam or a jarred treat. A fly crawls inside; a mouse climbs an apple beneath it. As he grabs the jar, it spins, showing a creepy granny face. The granny busts him for rummaging in her cupboard. He does not get his jam. This piece, plus over 150 other scary automatons and mechanical instruments, is at the.Morris MuseumMorristown, NJ.

Thomas Kuntz built this complex automaton using hundreds of brass and steel pieces. All parts are handmade. Finishing took four years; it was completed in 2008.handmade. It took four years to finish and was completed in 2008.completed in 2008People lurk in the tower windows. A devil watches from above. When the doors open, the Alchemist in his lab starts the show. The Alchemist tells the story of his celestial machine while thunder rolls, potions bubble, and flames jump. Then, the doors close, focusing attention on the ornate devil. It laughs as water pours from its mouth.

John Dennison crafted this coin-operated automaton in 1900. It shows a funeral parlor scene. Mahogany wraps the Greek Revival mortuary building with opening doors. Viewers see mourners crying outside and morticians working with bodies on tables inside. The item was sold at auction in 2012.sold at auctionin 2012.

Gustave Vichy made this harpist without a harp in Paris around 1880. It works now, but it needs repair. As the music chimes, she creepily moves her fingers up and down invisible strings, and her head wobbles side to side.chimes, she creepily dances her fingers up and down invisible strings as her head wobbles side to side.

The Writer is much more complex than many automata. Only three automatons survive.three surviving automatonsPierre Jaquet-Droz made The Writing Boy in the mid-1760s. Many consider The Writer the most complex. He writes notes and poetry. He writes custom text up to 40 letters long. He inks his goose feather by shaking his wrist. His eyes follow each word he writes. The Writer and the other two Jaquet-Droz automatons sit at the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire in Switzerland.

The Mask Seller, known simply by this name, is a disturbing automaton. Roullet et Decamps made him in Paris in 1910. This clown has several faces. Each face moves in its own chilling way. After playing peekaboo with one mask, he shows another on his foot. That mask sticks out its tongue while showing agony. This makes the other faces move too; they want to stick out their tongues and furrow their brows. He haunts people at the Musical Box Society International.

This strange, whimsical automaton was created by Roullet et DecampsThe late 19th century created this automaton. It shows a winged clown dangling a beetle over the moon. The moon sticks out its tongue, maybe expecting a snack, but the clown pulls it back. The clown's face has strange red spots that look like sickness, not normal clown makeup.

This fully functional wind-up automaton wascraftedPeter Kintzing and David Roentgen crafted this for Marie Antoinette in 1784. A large automaton craze swept Europe then. Roentgen wanted to surprise King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette with this intricate device. The automaton shows the queen and plays a small dulcimer, hitting strings with expert precision.

Thisfreaky little guyThis guy flips his hat with his foot. He looks side to side suspiciously. His creepy lips and intense eyebrows make unsettling movements. This dates to the early 20th century. People keep him behind glass at the Automata Museum in La Rochelle, France.

This festively frightening automaton appears at the Tibidabo Museum of Automatons in BarcelonaThis machine shows a smiling, clapping lady among various clowns, monkeys, and fortune tellers from the 19th century. Her shoulders move jerkily (to the beat). Her hair acts like it has a mind of its own.