Lot 25

The following two singing bird boxes, lots 25 and 26, and their combination of a lavishly decorated case and highly complex movements featuring a singing bird and music are the perfect example for decorative objects made for a Chinese dignitary. The outstanding quality is typical for such items made in Geneva during the 19th century, much coveted by collectors in Europe and Overseas, most particularly in the Far East. The manufacture of singing bird boxes required outstanding skills and artistry, making them accessible only to the chosen few. Those boxes appearing in public to date and particularly preserved in such attractive overall condition as the present examples must be counted amongst the greatest rarities in the world of horology. THE PROPERTY OF A GERMAN NOBLE FAMILY

Frères Rochat and Jean-Georges Rémond. A very fine, rare and unusual 18K vari-colour gold musical singing bird box

THE MOVEMENT STAMPED FR FOR FRÈRES ROCHAT AND NUMBERED 338, THE BOX STAMPED GRC FOR JEAN-GEORGES RÉMOND, CIRCA 1815

Details

Frères Rochat and Jean-Georges Rémond. A very fine, rare and unusual 18K vari-colour gold musical singing bird box
The movement stamped FR for Frères Rochat and numbered 338, the box stamped GRC for Jean-Georges Rémond, circa 1815
Gilt-finished movements incorporating two different mechanisms, including chain fusée and bellows for the singing bird automaton, musical pin barrel with 14 vibrating steel plates, entirely engine-turned geometrical and floral decorated rectangular-shaped box with rounded corners, chased scroll and floral decorated sides, corners and borders, the hinged top panel with chased and raised vari-colour gold foliage, floral and fruit decoration, opening to reveal an engine-turned plate and a chased musical trophy to the right, bird mechanism wound and bird activated by a lever to the left, when activated the bird will rotate on its axis, flap its wings and tail and turn its head, in time to a realistically imitated bird song, the bird also set with realistic multi-coloured feathers, when the song has finished the bird will automatically retreat inside the box and the lid will close, hinged panel to the back revealing the key compartment, winding hole for the music to the right side with sliding cover, the music activated by a small lever in the lower right corner, movement plate stamped FR for Frères Rochat and numbered 338, case stamped GRC for Jean-Georges Rémond
71 mm. x 48 mm. x 23 mm.

Provenance

Helene of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Duchesse d'Orléans (Helene Luise Elisabeth; 24 January 1814 - 17 May 1858) was a French Crown Princess after her marriage in 1837 to the eldest son of Louis Philippe I, Ferdinand Philippe of Orléans.

She was the mother of the future Count of Paris and Duke of Chartres. Her descendants include the present Count of Paris as well the present-day pretenders to the throne of France and Italy and the kings of Spain and Belgium. Born at Schloss Ludwigslust, the retreat from a capital of her native Mecklenburg-Schwerin, she was the only daughter born to the Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1778-1819) and his second wife Princess Karoline Luise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1786-1816), third daughter of Grand Duke Carl August and Princess Louisa of Hessen-Darmstadt.

On 30 May 1837 Helene Luise married Ferdinand Philippe d'Orléans, eldest son of king Louis Philippe I and his Italian consort, Queen Maria Amalia, at the Palace of Fontainebleau. The marriage was described as happy, and it was mostly the queen who opposed her as a Protestant and a liberal. She became popular with the public by her introduction of the German Christmas tree in France. The couple had two children in quick succession. Their eldest Philippe, born at the Palais des Tuileries in Paris, would later be hailed as Louis Philippe II by Royalists. Their other son, Robert, fought for the Union in the American Civil War, and then for France in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War.

Helene died of a flu in Richmond and was initially buried at Weybridge before being translated to the Chapelle royale de Dreux in Dreux in 1876.

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Lot Essay

Consigned by descendants of the Duchesse d'Orléans and preserved in very crisp overall condition, the present musical singing bird box is a fine and very unusual example for the decorative work made in Geneva in the early 19th century, demonstrating the collaboration between two of the most celebrated workshops of the time: Frères Rochat and Jean-Georges Rémond.

For a note on Frères Rochat see the following lot.

Jean-Georges Rémond (Reymond)
The lavish case is the work of one of Geneva's most celebrated casemakers, Jean-Georges Rémond or Reymond, renowned "monteur de boîtes en or" or maker of gold cases. In 1790 he founded Georges Rémond & Cie., excelling in elaborate gold cases for watches and snuff boxes, often destined for the export to the Orient. Rémond & Cie. worked for Les Fères Rochat, Piguet & Capt, Jaquet-Droz & Leschot and Frisard, the cases often decorated with enamel scenes by Lissignol, Richter, Dupont and others.

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