February 21, 2011

The Golden Era.....




Mechanical Singing Birds

CALIPH AL-MAMUN had a silver and golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 827, which had the features of an automatic machine. There were metal birds that sang automatically on the swinging branches of this tree built by Muslim engineers at the time.

The Abbasid Caliph al-Muktadir also had a golden tree in his palace in Baghdad in 915, with birds on it flapping their wings and singing.

This unique book traces the evolution of singing birds from antiquity to modern times, with particular attention to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the "Golden Age" of mechanical singing birds - Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Rochat were the most famous artists of this period - the first part of the book deals with the transformation of singing birds during the Renaissance period into an instrument of bird imitation during the 17th and 18th centuries - rich color iconography of subjects selected from museums and private collections all over the world, with several yet unpublished pieces (over 500) - an indispensable reference for collectors, specialists and for those as yet unacquainted.

Around 1780 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Jaccquet-Droz invented the mechanical singing bird. This movement imitates the movements of birds and reproduced the birdsong very authentically. It contains a leather bellows and piston whistle assembly. About 60 years later it was perfected by the Baise Bontems workshop in Paris. In 1960 Reuge took over Bontems, as well as Eschle's production in Germany. In this way tradition has been safeguarded.

To this day Reuge continues the manufacture of singing birds in the traditional manner. Birds are painstakingly feathered by hand. In the antique look with rose velvet or gilt brass with navy velvet, they are delightful.

In the modern mechanical singing birds the tiny birds pop up and sing their song. The imitation lapis or malachite is masterfully created using many layers of lacquer over brass. Each coat is polished and re-polished with great care. Mostly the oval boxes have gold plated trim. They too, are finished in lapis or malachite.The transparent box made of crystal with gold-plated brass columns and base has been especially finished to watch-making standards with hand-engraved parts. All of the birds flap their wings and move their beaks as they sing their little song for 10 to 12 seconds.

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