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Geneva, May 15, 2005

LOT 207

Auguste Golay-Leresche, Charles Abraham Bruguier and Jacques-Aimé Glardon, Geneva. Made in 1859. Exhibited at the 1878 Universal Exhibition in Paris, where Golay-Leresche won a Silver Medal. A magnificent and unique silver jewel casket, with serinette musician, singing bird and automaton sable. Eight day clock movement with special escapement centre-seconds, perpetual calendar, thermometer and barometer.

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Sold: CHF 1,106,250

C. The Case: Cast, pierced and chased in massive silver with polished highlights, the single piece base with fourdouble-scroll feet decorated with raised pellet, gadrooned and acanthus leaf decoration interspersed with pendantberried foliage, the front and back centred with a winged cherub head upon a scroll escutcheon. Statuettes in theform of putti representing the Four Seasons flank the corners, and support the arcaded and pierced leaf gallery.The sides and back are each centred with an oval enamel medallion set in a gadrooned mount and encircled byribbon and vine leaf frames, the back enamel flanked by double-scroll appliqués decorated in high relief withputti, fruit, and pendant foliage, the sides with foliage corner spandrels.The lid is secured by a "piano" style hinge, with a cast acanthus rim, the lock concealed at the front, and supportsa Vetruvian scroll band below the "Forest " scene, with the rocky base, caves and tree stumps formed as a singlecasting, an open shelter to the left, a mountain goat in the centre, and copious applied trailing fruited and leafedvine foliage. The musician, formed of several intricate castings, is seated on the top of an outcrop designed as awaterfall with stonework support and dressed in calf length trousers, a buttoned jacket and a cloak, with a featherin his hat. The interior of the lid is of silver sheet and the jewel compartment, behind the clock movement is linedwith original burgundy velvet cloth.The Clock Dials: Frosted silver dial cover plate with gilded bezels to secure the glasses, and applied decoration ofribbon and vine leaf frames, spandrels and double-scroll appliqués with putti, fruit, and pendant foliage, match-ingthe decoration of the casket sides.The central white enamel time dial with subsidiary Roman chapter-ring at 12, sunk visible balance at 6, and outerring for seconds with Arabic five-second numerals with counterpoised blued-steel centre-seconds hand.To the left are the subsidiary white enamel dials for the date and day of the week with the polychrome enamelmonth disk revealed in an aperture above, the relevant month represented, in addition to the written title, by theruling zodiac sign, painted en camaieu, and surrounded by suitably descriptive decoration.To the right are the subsidiary white enamel dials for barometric pressure with an outer ring indicating weatherconditions and temperature on the Réaumur scale, with the aperture above revealing the relevant one of threeenamelled figures, moving against a fixed landscape background, and indicating Wet, Variable or Fine conditions.Blued-steel hands.The Clock Movement: Eight-day going, with frosted and gilt plates, cylindrical pillars secured by screws and fuseewith chain and double-wheel stopwork. Gilded train, jewelled to the third wheel with endstones to the escape-ment.Earnshaw type spring detent escapement with jewelled pallets, bimetallic two-arm compensation balance,free-sprung with blued-steel spherical spring.Gilded sub-plate mounted on the front to support the wheel work for the perpetual calendar, which is advanceddaily by the clock, and can be manually adjusted by means of small buttons revealed by removing the jewellerytray. Large aneroid barometer bellows mounted within an iron frame, and employing fine fusee chains to trans-mitits movements to the hand (with small counter-balance spring), and the figures (with counter-weight).Bimetallic thermometer curb attached to the dial sub plate.The Singing Bird, Serinette and Automaton Movements. Brass base and sub-frame plates with simple turnedpillars. The bird and serinette movements sharing a single set of rectangular bellows and the inverted double conefusee with the chains driven by two spring barrels. Bird mechanism constructed on conventional principles, butwith additional cams and levers to provide for the interchange of song and movement with the musician figure.Bird with turning body, moving head, beak, tail and wings. Serinette movement with 6 fixed length pipes, themelody controlled by a multi-grooved and pinned cylinder acting upon the valve keys; each key with a smallcounterpoised platform used to lift the rods which operate the arms and 6 automated fingers of the musician. Afurther push rod controls the head movements. The automaton sable, covered in the original fur, is mounted upona circular skeletonised steel sub frame, hidden beneath an engraved silver ring and running in a channel linkingthe two cave entrances in the rocky outcrop.Powered from the serinette wheel train, a rack and pinion advance the sable on its journey out of the left sidecave, and spring-loaded arms, activated by fixed cams in the centre, provide movement to all four legs and thehead.The mechanism is released at will by depressing a small leaf beneath the open shelter, and the winding apertureis concealed beneath a removable leaf at the back. Original winding key.Signatures:Dial : A. Golay - L. A GenèveCase : A. Golay - Leresche fecit Genève - engravedMovement : Golay - L. A Genève - stampedAutomaton : C. Bruguier A Genève 288 - stamped; Charles Bruguier a Genève 1859 - scratchedEnamels : Glardon ainé - back of left side. Genève - back of right sideDimensions: 20.5 wide x 15.5 deep x 24 cm. overall height.


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Grading System
Grade:
Case: 2

Very good

Movement: 2

Very good

Dial: 2 - 01

Notes

The Animation Upon releasing the mechanism, the singing bird appears from beneath its lid, which is disguised as part of a tree stump, and proceeds to sing and move for a considerable period. As it ceases, the musician raises both his arms, holding the serpent, and turns his head to address the mouthpiece, the motion causing the counterbalanced feather in his hat to oscillate. He plays a simpler tune, with the notes produced by the serinette and marked by the movement of his fingers. The bird continues to flutter on its perch, but without moving its beak. At the end of his tune, he lowers the serpent and turns towards the bird again. The bird then replies with a further and more complex song. The sequence is repeated with different bird song and serinette tunes During the fourth and final sequence, the sable emerges slowly from the left hand cave, walking with all four legs whilst turning its head, hesitates and then comes to rest in front of the rock containing the bird. As the musician finishes, the bird returns into the rock and the sable disappears instantaneously into the right hand cave. Historical Background This piece was exhibited at the 1878 Universal Exhibition held in Paris. The following is an excerpt from the catalogue of Swiss exhibitors at this exhibition: ?447. Golay-Leresche, A. et Fils, in Geneva B. Precision Horology. Pocket chronometers with bulletins de marche from the Geneva Observatory. C. Complicated pieces of all types. D. Keyless and key-wound watches, simple and decorated, jewelry and painting. A solid silver jewel box with mechanisms, including: Horology: chronometer with fusee, with independent seconds, perpetual calendar, signs of the zodiac, à fusée, à seconde indépendante, quantième perpetual, signes du zodiaque, aneroid barometer and metallic thermometer. Mechanism: singing bird and flute player. Music lesson. Engraving and chasing: Renaissance style, painting on enamel, a combination of the three types of Genevan painting. A. Golay-Leresche et fils. Founded in 1837, one of Geneva's oldest and most renowned firms. Horology, Jewellery, Clocks and Bronzes, etc. Gold and silver medals: Expo. of Bern, 1857; Paris 1855; London 1851. In Paris, rue de la Paix, 2.? This masterpiece was celebrated in its day in Geneva, and continued to be admired by all who saw it. Horological authority Elie Wartmann wrote in 1881: "Toward the end of the century, Golay-Leresche exhibited an extremely elabo-rate piece. This was a solid silver coffer, richly chased and engraved, whose angles are supported by four statuettes of the same metal, and three sides of which are decorated with enamel scenes representing flowers, a landscape, and a group - in other words, the three genres in which our artists excell. On the front is an eight-day chronometer with half seconds, with a visible escapement, a perpetual calendar with the signs of the zodiac, a weekly indicator, an aneroid barometer and a metal thermometer. On the cover is a countryside scene. When the start button is pressed, or upon the hour, a bird comes out, sings a tune which is repeated at once by the flute player, until the arrival of a cat makes the bird go back to its hiding place. The movements of the beak, of the wings, and of the bird's eyes, those of the flute-player, whose nimble fingering is admirable, the difference in the timbres, which makes it possible to distinguish the bird's song from the sound of the flute, all of these things have been highly praised by those who had the pleasure of admiring this masterpiece.? It was further described in the Journal Suisse d?Horlogerie, vol 9 (1884-85), p. 209-212, in which Charles Bruguier?s grandson Jacques Alexandre spoke of "a flute player leaning against a tree. He plays, every movement of his fingers corresponding to a note. A small bird appears and sings, and the man puts down his flute and turns his head to listen. A cat suddenly appears and pounces on the bird just as it finishes its song, but the bird disappears and the man begins playing again.? More recently Alfred Chapuis, writing in Les Automates (published 1949), described it as: " ... a remark-able piece of silver-work that can still be admired in Geneva, where it functions perfectly". Auguste Golay-Leresche David Auguste Golay (1814-1895), called Auguste, was the son of Jacques David Golay (b. 1782), originally from the Vallée de Joux, and Susanne Louise Meylan. The couple settled in Geneva around 1829 with their young son. In 1837 Auguste married Susanne Leresche, who was a ?regleuse?, probably working for her father, who was also a watchmaker. He also founded his first firm that same year, juxtaposing his wife's name to his own, as was commonly done at the time: Golay-Leresche. In 1841, Auguste Golay took on an associate, Louis Gunther, forming an "établisse-ment d'horlogerie", called Golay & Gunther, which was to be short-lived, being dissolved in 1842 upon the departure of Louis Gunther. Auguste Golay continued working under his own name, Golay-Leresche, and the firm became quite successful. The firm's production was invariably of high quality, and Auguste Golay a shrewd businessman. Exceptional items were frequently entered into the growing number of International Exhibitions, and the company won prizes at the exhibi-tions of London in 1851, Paris in 1855 and 1878, and in the Swiss National Exhibitions held in Zurich, Geneva, etc. Following the death of Auguste in 1895, his sons Pierre and Louis took Edouard Stahl into partnership in 1896, and the firm's name changed to Golay Fils & Stahl, which continues to this day. (Adapted from Luc van Aken, Licencié en Histoire de l'Université de Genève, as seen at WorldTempus.com.) Charles Abraham Bruguier Born in Geneva in 1788, he was the son of a clockmaker and became a clockmaker himself. In October 1813, he married Louise-Pernette Noiret, and in June 1814, their daughter Jacqueline was born. A year later, in June 1815, Charles-Abraham Bruguier took his family to London, where they lived several years, first in Great Marlborough Street, then in Greek Street. There, other children were born: Charles-Abraham in 1818, and Louise in 1821. The Bruguier family returned to Switzerland around 1823. Judith, their fourth child, was born in Geneva in 1825. It is apparently only after the return to Geneva, where the Bruguier family settled in the rue de Coutance 87, that Charles-Abraham first began making singing birds, which dates the first Bruguier singing bird pieces after 1823. Between 1833 and 1837, Bruguier traveled again, this time to the town of Sainte-Suzanne near Montbéliard in France, to work in the Paur music-box factory (which afterwards became the L'Epée factory). This explains the existence of music boxes with the Bruguier signature. It would seem that Charles-Abraham junior, perhaps then already serving his apprenticeship, did not accom-pany his family, for he is not mentioned in the passport application, which says that Charles-Abraham left, for the "destination Montbéliard, with his wife and three daughters". In 1837, the Bruguier family returned once again to Geneva, living first in the rue du Cendrier 121 bis and moving the following year to rue Coutance 75. After 1843, Bruguier senior, having acquired property in Grand-Pré (north of Geneva), transferred his workshop there. The last trace we have of Bruguier senior is an application for a passport made in December 1861, for a trip he planned to Paris. Six months later, in June 1862, he died at 74 years of age. The elder Bruguier is known mainly for his bird boxes, but he made other kinds of pieces as well, even quite unusual ones: "a clock surmounted by a vase, in the center of which a rose opens up on the hour. Out of this rose comes a hummingbird which sings and flies back to where it came from, whereupon the rose closes up again." Or, "a flute player leaning against a tree. He plays, every movement of his fingers corresponding to a note. A small bird appears and sings, and the man puts down . A small bird appears and sings, and the man puts down his flute and turns his head to listen. A cat suddenly appears and pounces on the bird just as it finishes its song, but the bird disappears and the man begins playing again.? "Flights of Fancy", by Sharon and Christian Bailly, Antiquorum Editions, 2001. Jacques-Aimé Glardon. B B orn in Vallorbe in 1815, died in Geneva in 1862. A member of a family of very talented enamellers. His younger brother, Charles Louis Francois, known as Glardon-Leubel, was a prolofic painter of miniature portraits. Jacques-Aimé, however, specialised in floral, landscape and animal scenes. Much of his work was for the Oriental Market. ?Dictionnaire des horlogers genevois? by Osvaldo Patrizzi, Antiquorum, 1998.