FRENCH GILT METAL SINGING BIRD BOX
EARLY 20TH CENTURY
£1,890
Auction: Day 2 - Thurs 15th May from 10am | Lots 314 to 602
Description
of rectangular form with engine turned panels, with a central gilt metal oval hinged cover engraved with a musical trophy, opening by a gilt thumbpiece revealing a rising automaton singing bird with moving wings, beak and tail, the front of the box set with an oval silvered dial clock, winding from below, set on four cast paw feet with acanthus masks, stamped ‘Made in France’ and the mechanism numbered ‘241’
Dimensions
10.5cm wide, 4cm high, 6.5cm deep
Provenance
The Roy Mickleburgh Collection, Bristol
From whom gifted to the present owner
Footnote
Roy Mickleburgh was well known in the musical instrument trade in Bristol. He was part of the family that founded Mickleburgh Musical Instruments in the 1870s, a business that still exists today. By the 1970s Roy Mickleburgh had amassed one of the largest collections of musical boxes and automata in Europe. It also included pianos, organs, many instruments, gramophones etc. He was especially interested in mechanical items, and recordings were made of items from the collection. Roy died in 1984 and in subsequent years the collection was gradually dispersed. The first offering was at Christie’s, South Kensington, in 1986. Items from the collection can also be found in the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery and in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical instruments. The final offering of the Mickleburgh Collection was at Bristol Auction Rooms in 2013.