A FRENCH GILTWOOD AND COMPOSITION MUSICAL FIGURAL AND SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON CLOCK

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal.… Read more

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

A FRENCH GILTWOOD AND COMPOSITION MUSICAL FIGURAL AND SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON CLOCK

ALMOST CERTAINLY BLAIZE BONTEMS, PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details

A FRENCH GILTWOOD AND COMPOSITION MUSICAL FIGURAL AND SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON CLOCK
ALMOST CERTAINLY BLAIZE BONTEMS, PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY
The violin-playing figure beside a revolving glass rod waterfall, the birds perched on various branches, singing and some hopping from branch to branch when playing, the enamel dial with Roman hours, twin barrel movement with recoil anchor escapement, Brocot suspension and count wheel strike on bell, the back plate stamped with 'Japy Freres' trade stamp, separate musical movement to base, the reverse to tree stamped 'B O/ N/ T', with paper label to inside of case for '?. E. VINCENT & CO./ CHRONOMETERS/ WATCH & CLOCK MAKERS.....MADRAS', also inscribed '1851'
29 ½ in. (75 cm.) high; 23 ½ in. (60 cm.) wide; 12 in. (30.5 cm.) deep

Special notice

This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Alasdair Young

alyoung@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2837

Lot Essay

Blaise Bontems (b.1814) was enthralled by birds and their song from an early age. After an apprenticeship in Vosges, he set up on his own in 1849 in Paris, exhibiting at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. His automatons were referred to by the jurors at the exhibition as 'toys for adults rather than children' and were priced at £12 or for the rarer examples including a clock, £18 (see D. Roberts, Mystery, Novelty and Fantasy Clocks, Atglen, 1999, p. 209). By the 1860s, his success was international and ninety percent of his automata were exported, to which the label inside the present clock would seem to attest.

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