Passed
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Description
25" (64 cm.) Presented upon an ebony wooden base is a luxury porcelain jardiniere by Sevres with a lavish hand-painted array of garden flowers centered by a brightly-feathered bird, and with a pair of gilt lion head handles at each side. The jardiniere is filled with a bounty of silk flowers of various colors and styles and is surmounted by a feathered blue bird perched on a branch. When wound, the bird turns its head side to side, flits its tail feathers and merrily chirps while opening and closing its mouth. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: Bontems, Paris, 1880. Value Points: a felicitous presentation by the talented artisan who, after studying actual bird cries in the Bois de Boulogne of Paris, brought those sounds and movements to life with realistic mechanical movements, combining this with the extraordinary artistry of Sevres porcelain painters.