Vitali Vitaliev visits Villa Sauber in Monte Carlo to discover an inspiring collection of automatons - old mechanical toys for adults. MY FAVOURITE childhood toy was a time-battered mechanical gymnast, which - at the pull of a side-handle - would execute a couple of squeaky reluctant somersaults on parallel bars. The late 19th-century plaything was given to me by my granddad who, in turn, got it as a gift from his father. As with many of my toys, my ownership of the gymnast turned out to be final in the mechanical doll's long life: one day I simply took it apart driven by the ever-present obsessions. What was inside? How did it work?
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