$12,500
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Description
4 1/2" (11 cm.) x 3 1/2". Encased in an extremely
ornate,bombe-contoured,cast copper case with gilt
finish and tooled and engraved with numerous
designs,including a detailed miniature engraving
of an outdoor setting on the base featuring a
waltzing couple and signed "Faucherre,sc". The box
is presented in its original rosewood case with
mother-of-pearl designs and burgundy silk
lining.Movement and Music. When the box is wound
at its underside by a separate key,the lid opens
and two feathered friends very actively turn
side-to-side,their wings and tails
fluttering,their beaks a-twitter as a delightful
birdsong emerges. The mainspring is larger than on
single-bird boxes in order to accommodate the
duo,yet of an ingeniously compact design. There is
a double pump and reservoir bellows,a
short,cylinder-type slide whistle and eight,finely
cut,shifting cams in a cluster,along with two
additional cams that control the turning of each
bird side-to-side. There are ten animations.
Attributed to Blaise Bontems,Paris,circa 1890.
This very rare double-bird box served as the
color,cover piece for Mechanical Music,the Journal
of the Musical Box Society,International in August
1996 and it accompanied the reprint of a 1928
piece on Singing Birds written by Alfred Chapuis
and Edouard Gelis.