It’s gift-giving season and if you happened to land on the StoccaFisso Design page on Etsy, you may think one of Santa’s workshop elves has gone rogue.
However, the handmade creations you see there are the work of Italian wood carver Amedeo Capelli. And this ingenious craftsman is more of a modern day Geppetto. Just like the legendary puppet maker who brought Pinocchio to life, Capelli's skilled hands and boundless imagination transform humble pieces of wood into enchanting masterpieces that dance, sing, fly kites, and ride bicycles.
Capelli creates automatons, mechanical toys that appear to come to life by turning a crank or pressing a lever. Automatons – some tiny and others life size – have been popular amusements since the days of ancient Greece. Capelli, who lives in Varese, Italy, has been wood carving since he was a kid, but only began making and selling his one-of-a-kind movable toys a couple years ago.
His carved creations feature mostly loveable creatures performing clever tasks, like a magic-potion stirring mice, guitar playing shrimps, and green frogs bicycling atop toilet paper rolls. But Capelli’s exotic flamenco dancers, skeleton orchestra, jitterbugging raviolis, and swirling princesses are also popular.
"The design of an automaton may seem complex,” Capelli says, “but it comes quite naturally to me. I start by imagining the subject, then I think about which movements it should make, and finally, I think about the mechanism." Then he gets to work, often carving, painting, and assembling a whole new piece in a single sitting.
View more of Amedeo Capelli’s amazing creations on his Etsy site, Instagram page, and YouTube channel.
Photos/videos: Stoccafisso Design
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