Jeu d’Ovide ou de Métamorphoses = The Game of Ovid or the Metamorphosis, ca. 1923. Graphic Arts Collection 2019- in process

This early 20th-century transformation game is played by rotating 18 wooden joysticks to change various facial features and create an almost unlimited series of profiles or expressions. The complex device won the Grand Prize at the 1923 Lépine Competition in Paris.

Louis Jean-Baptiste Lépine (1846-1933), Prefect of the Paris police,  established this annual competition for inventors, originally intended to encourage small toy manufacturers but expanded to include a wide variety of innovations.

The 118th edition of the Concours Lépine Show will take place April 27 to May 8, 2019 at the Foire de Paris in the Porte de Versailles. If you wish to enter, you can download information here. Applications should be mailed to: Lépine competition, 12, Rue Beccaria, 75012 Paris France