Lot 421

Karl Griesbaum, Triberg, Germany, 107 x 71 x 44 mm, circa 1960
A rare enamel singing bird box
Case: brass, gilt, polychrome enamel, winding arbor in the base. Automaton movement: Rectangular brass movement; the wings and the beak are operated by a cam disc on the barrel, the chirping sound is activated by a twin pair of bellows that send a current of air into a miniature pipe.
The gilt brass case has a baroque-style, rectangular form with elaborately engraved walls. The slider for the automaton is visible on the front wall. The top part is exquisitely ornamented with Champlevé work, showing engraved gold tendrils on black ground and polychrome enamel flowers on translucent cobalt blue ground. When the movement is wound and the slider for the automaton is pushed to the right, the gold cover - exquisitely painted with an Alpine landscape with farm buildings and staffage figures - opens to reveal a rotating bird rising from a gilt lattice floor – the chirping bird flutters its wings, turns its head and opens its beak. The bird’s multi-coloured feathers dazzle the onlooker with bright red, canary yellow, black and emerald green hues with fine iridescent highlights.

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