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Lot Essay
Mechanical birds are among the oldest automata, with the first recorded in the 4th century B.C. created by Archytas who is said to have constructed a mechanical wooden dove; meanwhile the first mechanical singing birds seem to date from the 3rd century B.C. with Ktesibios and his successor Philo of Byzantium.
Precious singing-bird boxes such as the one presented here first appeared around 1784 -1785, probably first created by renowned clockmaker Pierre Jacquet-Droz (1721-1790), who sought to combine “a clock or a watch with music, decoration, and art” (see F.-A.-M. Jeanneret, Biographie Neuchâteloise, 1862). Their miniaturization and popularization is linked to snuff boxes, which were then the ultimate fashionable accessories. Later, the movements were improved by the Frères Rochat who produced some of the most elaborate singing birds.
These technical and aesthetic masterpieces were among the most sought-after objects to acquire in the 19th century by collectors across Europe, as well as in the Middle and Far East and North America, who delighted in these small “toys.”
THE MOVEMENT BY LES FRÈRES ROCHAT
François-Élisée (1771-1836), Frédéric (1774-1848), and Samuel-Henri (1777-1854) Rochat trained in their father Pierre Rochat’s workshop in Le Brassus, then worked as watchmakers for Jacquet-Droz and Leschot before establishing themselves independently in Geneva around 1813, until around 1820 when they went their separate ways. They are known for having refined the singing-bird mechanism by adding a greater number of cams, making the bird’s movements more natural, and for improving sound quality through the use of piston rods. Although they produced their own bird boxes, they also supplied movements to other companies. They appeared to have collaborated on a regular bases with Jean-Georges Rémond. Interestingly, most known examples of bird boxes made by Rémond with movements by les Frères Rochat used the same style of enameling for the ground as here: a distinctive translucent blue with a black trelliswork of flowerheads, the only difference being in the scene painted on the bird’s opening cover.
THE CASE BY JEAN-GEORGES RÉMOND
The gold box is the work of the famous maker Jean-Georges Rémond (1752-1830), the son of a Protestant goldsmith from Hanau, Germany, an important center for the production of jewelry, clocks, and enamel-painted snuff boxes. Rémond probably trained as a journeyman goldsmith in Paris, Berlin, and London before settling in Geneva. On 22 December 1783, he was officially admitted as a master goldsmith-jeweler after presenting an oval gold snuff box with painted enamel, and founded the company “Georges Rémond & Cie.” In 1792, he went into partnership with Joseph Guidon, David Gide, Laurent Guisseling, and Jean-Noël Lamy under the name “Guidon Rémond Gide & Co” although the company was only officially registered on 1 January 1796. By 1800–1801, it had been replaced by the firm “Rémond Gide & Co” which produced snuff boxes as well as singing bird boxes intended for the Chinese market fond of these luxurious, and highly entertaining mechanical creations. Denis Blondet later joined Joseph Guidon and David Gide, and a new company was formed in January 1801 under the name “Rémond Lamy & Co.”. In 1806 Jean-Georges Rémond, Jean-Noël Lamy, Laurent Gisseling, Pierre Mercier, and Daniel Burton founded another company known as “Rémond Lamy Mercier & Co." officially registered in Geneva in accordance with a Napoleonic decree of 1806 and used until 1811.
For comparable boxes: see one sold at Christie’s New York, 21 October 2011, lot 10 illustrated in H. Williams, The David & Mikhail Iakobachvili Collection, 19th century Snuffboxes, Monaco, 2024, p. 157, no 166; see Koller, Zurich, 21 March 2024, lot 1191; see H. Williams, The David & Mikhail Iakobachvili Collection, 18th century Snuffboxes, Monaco, 2024, p. 154, no. 163 (S. J. Phillips, London, February 2016) and p. 156, no. 165 (Auktionen Dr Crott, Mannheim, 16 November 2013, lot 252).
Precious singing-bird boxes such as the one presented here first appeared around 1784 -1785, probably first created by renowned clockmaker Pierre Jacquet-Droz (1721-1790), who sought to combine “a clock or a watch with music, decoration, and art” (see F.-A.-M. Jeanneret, Biographie Neuchâteloise, 1862). Their miniaturization and popularization is linked to snuff boxes, which were then the ultimate fashionable accessories. Later, the movements were improved by the Frères Rochat who produced some of the most elaborate singing birds.
These technical and aesthetic masterpieces were among the most sought-after objects to acquire in the 19th century by collectors across Europe, as well as in the Middle and Far East and North America, who delighted in these small “toys.”
THE MOVEMENT BY LES FRÈRES ROCHAT
François-Élisée (1771-1836), Frédéric (1774-1848), and Samuel-Henri (1777-1854) Rochat trained in their father Pierre Rochat’s workshop in Le Brassus, then worked as watchmakers for Jacquet-Droz and Leschot before establishing themselves independently in Geneva around 1813, until around 1820 when they went their separate ways. They are known for having refined the singing-bird mechanism by adding a greater number of cams, making the bird’s movements more natural, and for improving sound quality through the use of piston rods. Although they produced their own bird boxes, they also supplied movements to other companies. They appeared to have collaborated on a regular bases with Jean-Georges Rémond. Interestingly, most known examples of bird boxes made by Rémond with movements by les Frères Rochat used the same style of enameling for the ground as here: a distinctive translucent blue with a black trelliswork of flowerheads, the only difference being in the scene painted on the bird’s opening cover.
THE CASE BY JEAN-GEORGES RÉMOND
The gold box is the work of the famous maker Jean-Georges Rémond (1752-1830), the son of a Protestant goldsmith from Hanau, Germany, an important center for the production of jewelry, clocks, and enamel-painted snuff boxes. Rémond probably trained as a journeyman goldsmith in Paris, Berlin, and London before settling in Geneva. On 22 December 1783, he was officially admitted as a master goldsmith-jeweler after presenting an oval gold snuff box with painted enamel, and founded the company “Georges Rémond & Cie.” In 1792, he went into partnership with Joseph Guidon, David Gide, Laurent Guisseling, and Jean-Noël Lamy under the name “Guidon Rémond Gide & Co” although the company was only officially registered on 1 January 1796. By 1800–1801, it had been replaced by the firm “Rémond Gide & Co” which produced snuff boxes as well as singing bird boxes intended for the Chinese market fond of these luxurious, and highly entertaining mechanical creations. Denis Blondet later joined Joseph Guidon and David Gide, and a new company was formed in January 1801 under the name “Rémond Lamy & Co.”. In 1806 Jean-Georges Rémond, Jean-Noël Lamy, Laurent Gisseling, Pierre Mercier, and Daniel Burton founded another company known as “Rémond Lamy Mercier & Co." officially registered in Geneva in accordance with a Napoleonic decree of 1806 and used until 1811.
For comparable boxes: see one sold at Christie’s New York, 21 October 2011, lot 10 illustrated in H. Williams, The David & Mikhail Iakobachvili Collection, 19th century Snuffboxes, Monaco, 2024, p. 157, no 166; see Koller, Zurich, 21 March 2024, lot 1191; see H. Williams, The David & Mikhail Iakobachvili Collection, 18th century Snuffboxes, Monaco, 2024, p. 154, no. 163 (S. J. Phillips, London, February 2016) and p. 156, no. 165 (Auktionen Dr Crott, Mannheim, 16 November 2013, lot 252).