Birds Archives - Antique Automatons

Singing Birds in Cages Automatons

Antique Automatons — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 09:11:14 +0000

Singing birds in cages are very desirable and collectible. The cages are often made of gilt metal and can contain one or more birds which sing and move.Cages with more than one bird tend to be rarer. Many of them were French or Swiss.

Below are some examples and price guides of singing birds in cages including a 20th century French automaton and a gilt cage containing two singing birds.

A 20th century caged singing bird automaton
probably French, in the 19th century style
the feathered bird with beak head and tail movements mounted on a floral entwined perch, the canted domed cage with knop suspension loop, on foliate mounted conforming giltwood base and bun feet, with crank handle, 53.5cm high overall

Sold for £1,530 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2022

Continental Automaton Singing Bird in Gilt-Metal Cage
On a giltwood stand. Height overall 12 inches, width 8 1/2 inches, depth 6 1/2 inches.

Sold for $535 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle in 2021

French Gilt Birdcage Automaton. The wood bottom of the cage is embossed: “Made in France.” The birds open their beaks and turn their heads along with the clear cheeping sound. The bottom of the cage is lined with green felt. 20in. h. x 11in. diam. Condition: Works not warranted, may need care. The bird models are in good/clean condition. The gilt cage is in good condition with light scratches/wear.

Sold for US$2,000 at Turner Auctions + Appraisals in 2022

A gilt-bronze double jumping and singing bird musical automaton with waterfall and timepiece in the manner of Jaquet-Droz and Leschot, Swiss, circa 1800

the octagonal cage with finely pierced and engraved cagework and enclosing two painted metal birds with automaton beaks, wings and tails and jumping between branches, to the rear is a revolving glass rod automaton simulating water cascading from a lion’s mouth, the base of the cage containing the automaton movement with chain fusee, a complex series of cams controlling the movement of the birds and their singing, the integral plinth with 1¾-inch enamel dial with regulation sector, the timepiece movement with chain fusee and verge escapement with plain three-arm balance, triggering a further two-tune musical movement with 2¼-inch cylinder and steel comb signed H Capt, the whole with stylised floral mounts, the corners with trophy mounts and the ends with roundels depicting the arts, on paw feet

38.5cm. 15¼in. high

Sold for 100,800 GBP at Sotheby’s in 2020

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Singing Bird Boxes

Antique Automatons — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 14:05:17 +0000

Singing Bird Boxes. A singing bird box (boîte à oiseau chanteur in French) is a box, usually rectangular-shaped, which contains within a miniature automaton singing bird concealed below an oval lid and activated by means of an operating lever.

Its origins are found in the city of Geneva and its invention in 1784/85 is attributed to Pierre Jaquet-Droz.

The French term tabatière has also come to be used for any small decorative box resembling a snuffbox in form but not necessarily any longer used to contain snuff. Reference: Wikipedia

UNSIGNED | A CONTINENTAL SILVER GILT SINGING BIRD BOX, CIRCA 1930
Case: Overall decorated with foliate C-scroll ornament, hinged lid concealing the singing bird
Dimension: 40mm (height) x 100mm (width) x 64mm (length)
Accompaniments: Presentation box and winding key

Sold for HK$15,300 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2022

RETAILED BY PATEK PHILIPPE. A VERY FINE AND RARE TORTOISESHELL, GILT AND ENAMEL SINGING BIRD BOX WITH ORIGINAL BOX AND OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES ABRAHAM BRUGUIER THE YOUNGER, FITTED BOX SIGNED PATEK PHILIPPE & CO., GENÈVE, CIRCA 1880
Movement: Rectangular full-plate, chain fusée, bellows, going barrel, the lid opening for the rotating multicoloured singing bird with flapping wings, turning head and opening beak
Case: The back with hinged key compartment, the bird cover enamelled with a bouquet of flowers and two birds on a translucent ground, diam. 96 x 64 x 32 mm
With: Original Patek Philippe fitted case, instruction sheet and key

Sold for HKD 819,000 at Christie’s in 2022

Reuge Gilt-Metal and Enamel Singing Bird Box
Width 4 5/8 inches.

Sold for $1,250 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle in 2020

German Karl Griesbaum music box with a singing bird automaton. The sides and top of the brass box are elaborately decorated with scrolling filigree. The bird is naturalistically rendered in yellow and black. Impressed mark along the underside Ken-D as well as “Made in Germany.”

Bird sings for approximately 15 seconds when fully wound. With three keys for winding the box.
Height: 1 3/4 in x width: 4 1/4 in x depth: 2 3/4 in.

Sold for US$1,500 at Revere Auctions in 2022

A jewelled gold and enamel singing bird box, Rémond, Lamy, Mercier & Co, Geneva, circa 1815, rectangular with rounded corners, all sides with wavy engine-turning within a border of gold scrollwork and midnight blue taille d’épargne ovals and lozenges, the lid centred with an octagonal plaque chased with a musical trophy including a turquoise-set harp, a mandolin, a trumpet and a ewer on a sablé ground, in a frame of turquoise cabochons, opening to reveal a singing bird with a small ivory beak, flapping its hummingbird-feathered wings, its support mounted on a plaque engraved with the silhouette of a bird and with scalloped edges, the inner cover engine-turned, key compartment, maker’s mark, unofficial Geneva third standard mark, with associated key and another spare one, in a silk-lined tooled leather case, circa 1830 and cardboard box stamped for: Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company / 112 Regent Steet, London W.

7.8cm., 3¼in. wide

Sold for 50,400 GBP at Sotheby’s in 2022

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Cuckoo Clocks

Antique Automatons — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 08:10:05 +0000

Cuckoo Clocks. A cuckoo clock is a simple form of an automaton clock. It is typically a pendulum-regulated clock that strikes the hours with a sound like a common cuckoo’s call and has an automated cuckoo bird that moves with each note. Some move their wings and open/close their beaks while leaning forward, whereas in others, only the bird’s body leans forward. The mechanism to produce the cuckoo call has been in use since the middle of the 18th century and has remained almost without variation until the present.It is unknown who invented it and where the first one was made. It is thought that much of its development and evolution was made in the Black Forest area in southwestern Germany (State of Baden-Württemberg), the region where the cuckoo clock was popularized. The cuckoo clocks were exported to the rest of the world from the mid 1850’s on. Today, the cuckoo clock is one of the favorite souvenirs of travelers in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It has become a cultural icon of Germany. Reference: Wikipedia

Below are some examples and price guides of antique cuckoo clocks including a late 19th century Black Forest cuckoo clock and a cuckoo table clock.

A LARGE LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY GERMAN ‘BLACK FOREST’ CARVED AND STAINED WOOD CUCKOO CLOCK
With an elaborate pierced twin bird and floral pediment and surround, the 6 1/2in dial with pierced Roman numerals and hands, the twin gut fusee movement striking on a gong with pendulum and key, 74cm high (29in high)
16cm wide, (6in wide

Sold for £ 750 at Bonham’s in 2018

A SWISS ‘BLACK FOREST’ STAINED WALNUT CUCKOO TABLE CLOCK
LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY
The case of chalet form carved with oak leaves, tree trunks and mushrooms, surmounted by a St. Bernard on the roof, the ebonized chapter ring with applied faux bone numerals, with painted cuckoo emerging from a door above
29 ¾ in. (75.5 cm.) high, 18 ½ in. (46.9 cm.) wide, 9 ½ in. (24.1 cm.) deep

Sold for USD 4,375 at Christie’s in 2018

Hunter Style Black Forest German Cuckoo Clock #859

8 day, 20 inches, Regula Clock 859, made in Germany, , no weights

Sold for US$115 at Auctions By B. Langston, LLC in 2022

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Bird Automatons

Antique Automatons — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:41:53 +0000

Bird automatons can take the form of birds in cages, clocks and even very tiny small birds in boxes. Below are some examples of bird automatons, including a silver-gilt and enamel timepiece with alarm and a French musical figure playing a fiddle or violin with a singing bird.

Below are some examples and price guides of antique bird automatons including a German singing bird box and a singing bird in a gilt bronze cage

A Singing Bird Box, probably German, early 20th century,
the going barrel movement in simulated tortoiseshell case with key compartment at the rear, operating slide at the front and oval silvered brass lid open-top opening to feathered singing bird automaton with swivel movement and moving wings and beak, in original leather covered case with repair invoices,
3 3/4in (9.5cm) wide

Sold for £2,040 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2022

A SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON
ALMOST CERTAINLY BY BONTEMS, CIRCA 1900

The bird with applied stained peacock feathers, with moving head, on a swing, under brass cage, on giltwood base, going barrel-movement and bellows
The cage: 19 in. (48 cm.) high; 91⁄2 in. (24 cm.) wide; 91⁄2 in. (24 cm.) deep

Sold for GBP 1,125 at Christie’s in 2020

Small singing bird automaton, Germany, 20th century. Heavy, rectangular brass case with oval spring lid, which is triggered by a switch on the front. A small red bird emerges from the hole and sings and dances. After a small interval, the little bird disappears just as abruptly as it appeared. The outside of the body with green and red semi-transparent enamel over relief decoration, 4,3 x 10,5 x 6,7 cm.

Sold for €2,400 at Historia | Bolland & Marotz in 2022

A gilt-bronze double jumping and singing bird musical automaton with waterfall and timepiece in the manner of Jaquet-Droz and Leschot, Swiss, circa 1800

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