INTRICATE contraptions from the art of automata have been wowing visitors to The Oxfordshire Museum.

Handle and button operated designs from London’s Mechanical Cabaret Theatre include a cat which laps up milk and a man in a bath of spaghetti.

The devices were popularised at end-of-the-pier shows from Edwardian times through to the 1960s. Sarah Alexander, whose mother Sue Jackson set up the theatre in Cornwall in 1979, said; “It is wonderful, kids absolutely loved it, it is a great exhibition for all ages.

“The kids love pressing everything and the parents are interested in what is going on underneath.”

Elizabeth Hammett-Kay, whose six-year-old son Lukas marvelled at the cat and the milk, said: “We thought it was brilliant.

He liked it because some are really gruesome and frightening. I’d really recommend it.”

The exhibition, featuring 12 designs, will be on show at the Park Street, Woodstock museum until September 11. Entry is free.