Brontë Automata by Lisa Slater

I have always desired to create automata of the Brontë sisters. The portrait of the sisters in the National Portrait Gallery captivates me, as it was painted by their brother Branwell, who also depicted himself in the painting and then painted himself out. I chose to base the characters on his painting style. The figures are turned on a lathe and then hand-carved and painted.

Each Brontë sister holds a miniature book made by Landau House miniature books, which are 1:12 scale replicas of their genuine novels. These automata are available for made to order individually if you have a Brontë favourite or as a full set. They also sold at Hawksbys Gallery in Haworth, the hometown of the Brontë sisters.

Housed in an vintage singer sewing machine drawers which add age and character to the pieces.

Charlotte is reading the novel she is most associated wih ‘Jane Eyre’.

Emily is reading from 'Wuthering Heights' and

Anne is reading from ‘The Tennant of Wildfell Hall’.

Dimensions (approx) - Height 38cm x Width18cm(handle 6cm) x Depth 14cm.

Soon after making the sisters as automata I was getting requests to create brother Branwell . So I designed him to be seated painting the portrait of his sisters on an easel. When turning the handle Branwell’s head looks from his portrait to the audience. His arm lifts to move his brush and his leg nervously taps.

Brontë automaton have travelled across the world to be in homes and people have made special visits from abroad to acquire a piece.