Beschreibung:

Fine Singing Bird Box by Rochat, numbered on the mechanism 91 and triple tulip marks, with fusee movement, stack of eight cams (in pairs) operating in sequence 1-2-3-4, male winding arbor, large bird with iridescent plumage, articulated head, bone beak, perch, wings and tail, in tortoiseshell case with rear hinged key-compartment, gold stringing, floriate-chased grill with scalloped edge, and oval enameled lid with inside floral spray on rose ground and exterior mountainous view with lake in the foreground, in engraved and engine-turned gold border, wd. 3 3/4 in., (half line of missing stringing, small chips on inside lid, otherwise excellent), in the original silk-lined carrying case with tooled leather lid, wd. 4 1/2 in., Literature: Geoffrey Mason, (2000), Mechanical Singing Bird Tabatières, chapter 5 and pp. 122 - 125. Note: Mason illustrates Rochat No. 113, a transitional piece between the movements of the late 1700s and those from after 1820. According to Mason, Frères Rochat only began producing bird boxes in their own name after their move to Geneva in 1804, with the production of movements up to 1810 previously estimated at a rate of just over two per year. The appearance of Rochat No. 91 confirms that numbering did indeed begin at 1, rather than 100 as Mason had tentatively concluded. This is believed to be the earliest numbered singing bird box by Rochat to have been offered at auction thus far.