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.