$9,500
Sold
sold
Description
4" (10 cm.) x 2 1/2". Encased in a fancily
engraved silver gilt and enamel case with
re-entrant corners and an oval lid featuring a
detailed hand-painted floral bouquet on the lid.
The lid opens to reveal a song bird with
iridescent plumage on a pierced grill. The bird
box is presented in its own leather transit case.
monogrammed E.O.,with purple silk lining and a
compartment at the rear for winding key. Movements
and Music. Wound from the underside and put in
play by means of the lever on the front,having
five animations: turning body side-to-side,wings
flapping,head turning independently of the
body,lower beak opening and closing,tail
fluttering. The birdsong cycle is made up of six
melodic stages,some of them in staggered
repetition and the sequence determined by a
shifting cluster of cams within the mechanism. The
sequence is 1,2,3,2,3,4. Jacques A.
Bruguier,Geneva,from the family of singing bird
makers,possibly the last of the famous names to
build fine quality bird boxes,circa 1875.