Important Watches, Collector's Wristw...

Hotel Richemond, Geneva, Oct 13, 2001

LOT 773

Frères Rochat, Geneva, No. 339, circa 1820.Very fine and rare 18K multicolored gold small pearl-set singing bird box.

CHF 35,000 - 45,000

USD 21,200 - 27,000

Sold: CHF 40,250

C. Four-body, rectangular with rounded corners, all panels entirely decorated with applied multicolored foliate and floral design with engine-turned centers. The top medallion decorated en suite with flowers and fruits, half pearl-set frame on the top panel. M. 40 x 74 mm, rectangular brass, fusee and chain, eight cams and a piston with sliding whistle for the song's modulation. The cams rotate four times per song and lift one step every rotation, allowing a long duration of singing, the multicoored feathered bird with moving wings, beak, tail, and turning head rotating on its axis. It is reflected on the inside of the mirror-polished medallion and thus appears enlarged, gold engraved grill. The raising of the bird and the opening of the medallion are cam-controlled, with a five-wheel train finished by a pinion in eccentric bushing to regulate the speed of the opening and closing. The complicated mechanism allows for precision control of the raising of the bird and medallion, and its seed.Stamped "FR" and the number on the movement.Dim. 78 x 52 x 26 mm.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Notes

FRThe initials FR no doubt stand for "Frères Rochat", but it is as yet uncertain exactly who these brothers were.They might well be François Elisée, Frédéric, and Samuel Henri Rochat, from Le Brassus in the Vallée de Joux, who worked for Jaquet-Droz and Leschot, providing ebauches of singing bird mechanisms. Around 1813, these three Rochat brothers moved to Geneva and went into business on their own, soon splitting up into two groups. François remained on his own (later aided by his son, Ami Napoléon), and Frédéric and Samuel worked together, along with Frédéric's sons, Antoine and Louis.There were also other Rochats working in Geneva at the time. Among them is Louis Rochat, originally from l'Abbaye in the Vallée de Joux, who is considered to be the maker of a piece with clock and singing birds (today in the Peking Museum) which won a prize from the Geneva Réunion des Industriels in 1829. In 1814, Louis and his brother François formed an association along with Pierre Daniel Campiche, called Frères Rochat et Compagnie. To complicate matters, there were ties between the various Rohats. For example, Louis Rochat from l'Abbaye worked with Antoine (son of Frédéric) for a time, around 1850. Until further research proves the exact identity of the fine artisans behind the signature FR, all hypotheses should be considered.