Automata have been associated with Illusionists for a very long time.

In 1979, Simon was introduced to automata collector, Jack Donovan by musician Steve Hackett. Steve had approached Simon regarding visuals for his first album since leaving Genesis, called 'Please Don't Touch'. The album was inspired by Jack's shop in Portobello Road. Around this time Simon started to dabble in making automata, building about a dozen simple originals. In 1990 he designed the growing and blooming flower as a tiny homage to the great Robert Houdin. This can be seen in the Devil of a Hat routine in Series 2 of Simon's Secret Cabaret, although not very detailed in the filming. In 2006 he got more interested in making a type of automata known as the 'Working Model'. The models he hasn't given away are on display at the House of Magic.
 

Click on the image below to view a slideshow of Simon's automata.

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