Exceptional Collectors Timepieces, Ho...

Geneva, May 15, 2005

LOT 205

"Singing Canary" Attributed to Jaquet Droz, Geneve. Made circa 1770. Magnificent and possibly unique, gilt bronze, porcelain and enamel hanging birdcage clock with automaton canary which appears to breathe, singing seven tunes on the hour or at will.

CHF 150,000 - 200,000

EUR 100,000 - 130,000 / USD 130,000 - 170,000

Sold: CHF 215,250

C. The cage:Very finely made, in gilt bronze, the four corner niches are blue with gold leaf decoration, and each contains asmall porcelain vase with a gilt bronze flambeau stopper. The four sides are painted a deep red and feature goldleaf decoration of three leaves; each side with a very fine painted on enamel medallion representing allegories oflove, within a gilt bronze frame.The Dial:Convex white enamel, Roman numerals for the hours and Arabic five-minute indications. Pierced and engravedgilt brass hour and minute hands, blued steel seconds hand and the hand for fast/slow adjustment.The clock movement:Brass plates measuring 102 x 82 mm, fusee and chain, verge escapement, pierced cock covering the balancespring. The clock commands the striking, serinette and singing bird functions automatically on the hour.The serinette:Comprises a going train, the springs are dated 1789, fusee and chain transmission, the wheel train terminates toan endless screw on a fly wheel, the 2 wings of which are adjustable.This wheel train drives the bellows and the brass cylinder, 55 x 130 mm, the pins activating 10 levers thatcommand the opening of 10 pewter pipes. Seven different tunes may be manually selected, by means of a pointeron a small dial within an enamelled medallion on one of the sides. A silent lever is located on the main dial at XII.A pull cord commands the serinette and bird at will. The winding hole for the serinette is located in an enamelledmedallion on one of the sides.The bird:A Brazilian canary that pivots, with moving beak and tail. Its breast moves up and down as it seems to breathe,in a movement that is exceedingly rare, if not unique. The bird?s functions are programmed by a particular portionof the serinette?s cylinder which engages several small levers; the bird?s rotation is driven by a rod connected tothe going train.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 2

Very good
Dial: 3 - 05

Notes

Singing Bird Cages. Toward the end of the 17th century, it was a popular pastime to raise canary birds and teach them to sing. This fashion was the inspiration for the decorative objects using singing birds of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, of which this clock is an exam-ple. At first, the bird's song was provided by a serinette mecha-nism, as is the case here; later, the Jaquet-Droz were to invent the whistle with sliding piston, which allowed a much greater minia-turization and the imitation of true bird song. In this case, the bird sings popular tunes of the period. Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) Born on July 28, 1721 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Pierre Jaquet-Droz was the son of a farmer who was an occasional clockmaker as well. He studied humanities and philosophy in Basel from 1738 to 1739 and then became interested in horology. We know little of him as a person, only that he was sober, serious, taciturn, and very careful in his work. On October 25, 1750, Pierre Jaquet-Droz married Marianne Sandoz, the daughter of Civil Lieutenant Abraham Louis Sandoz, who was later to accompany Pierre on his trip to Spain. At the age of thirty-four, Pierre Jaquet-Droz was left a widower. He never remarried, and seems to have devoted himself to his work as a watchmaker with all the more intensity.The second child of Pierre Jaquet-Droz and his wife Marianne, Henry-Louis, was born on October 13, 1752. Recognizing that he was a gifted child, his father sent him to Nancy to study music, science, mathematics, physics and drawing. In 1758, Jaquet-Droz made the long and difficult journey to Spain, to present his works to King Ferdinand VI. When he returned, the sum he brought back enabled him to devote himself to the making of the famous Jaquet-Droz automata, the writer, draughtsman, and musician, and to found the successful Jaquet-Droz firm, in London and Geneva, for the making of extraordinary mechanical and musical pieces.Upon his return in 1769, Henry-Louis took his place in his father's work-shop alongside Jean-Frederic Leschot (1746-1824), an adoptive son. It was the beginning of a close and fruitful partnership between the three men. Pierre Jaquet-Droz was the first to make singing bird boxes and enjoyed an excellent reputation for compli-cated clocks, Neuchâtel clocks and automaton timepieces. When Pierre Jaquet-Droz grew old, the firm was taken over by his son Henry-Louis and Jean Frédéric Leschot, under theame of Jaquet-Droz & Leschot.Pierre Jaquet-Droz died in Biel in 1790, at the age of 69. Upon his father's retirement from the family firm, Henry-Louis naturally replaced him, traveling to London to look after business. He also maintained an active interest in the Société des Arts, studying questions related to the well-being of the Genevese "Fabrique" and seeking solutions to problems which plagued his colleagues and fellow members.Henry-Louis' health was poor, however. Despite a journey undertaken to improve his condition, he died in Naples in November 1791, at the early age of 41. Subsequently, Jean Frédéric Leschot took over the firm.