Pierrot writes with two movements of the right hand, his head following the words across the page. As the lamp light dims, he gradually lowers his head, which finally drops to his chest and his eyelids shut. He wakes, raises his head, turns up the lamp with his left hand and continues to write.

Michel Bertrand acquired the old Vichy stock in 1976 from JAF (Jouet et Automates Francaises) where he had been an employee. Bertrand divided his time between skilled restoration work and producing accurate copies of the most famous Vichy designs - using the original moulds and 19th Century production methods - of which the Pierrot Writer is one. His archive of original Vichy parts, designs and costumes was sold to a private collector after Bertrand's death in 1999, at the age of seventy.