A rare Charles Bruguier silver, parcel gilt and champlevé-enamel fusee singing bird box, Swiss, circa 1840

Signed Charles Bruguier á Géneve, stamped to bottom plate Charles Brugier and serial number 97

Signed Charles Bruguier á Géneve, stamped to bottom plate Charles Brugier and serial number 97
The brightly coloured and feathered bird, flapping wings, turning head and body, opening beak and bobbing tailfeather to the synchronised sequential birdsong, rising through finely pierced and chased gilt grille, lid interior with full enamel study of a floral bouquet surrounded by multi-tone enamel inlaid Rococo C-scrolls, the top study of an Alpine lake landscape with sailing boats and dwellings with guilloche sunburst above snow-capped mountains beyond, the main lid mounted with raised gilt bronze Rococo mounts and rose heads with interlacing trails of vari-tone hard and translucent enamel swags, leaves and flowers, the sides with complex geometric and fielded frames with enamelled inlay, and the underside with complimenting wave-line rose-engine turned ground amongst further floral highlights, gilt start/stop slide to front-right and with rear hinged compartment, movement with early pattern cartwheel governor and eight cam-stack, together with the original ratchet winding key and hand-written German operating instructions, 3 1/2in wide x 2in deep x 11 1/4in high.

Provenance: Sotheby's, Geneva, Portrait Miniatures, Gold Boxes, Objects of Vertu, Russian Works of Art and Fabergé, 11 May 1989, lot 112