A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925

A superb silver, silver-gilt and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box
 
circa 1925
 
Going-barrel movement
 
The Cherub's rhapsody in blue...  
 
When wound and the start/stop pull actuated, the bird lid opens quickly to reveal the bird which has emerged through the finely chased and pierced gilt grille of trailing leaf scrolls, moving metal beak, wings, tailfeather and whole body from side-to-side nearly 200-degrees.
The bird with highly naturalistically dressed layered feathered plumage in a predominant tone of grass green, hints of olive and sage, blended with light blue and beige and finished with black and selected iridescent highlights, all synchronised to the continuous birdsong, lid interior of highly polished gilt finish for full bird reflection, grille border of polished silver.
 
In extraordinary full enamelled case in the highest quality.  With the bird lid top featuring a lone putti playing the flute to a robin seated upon his toes, light blue asymmetric Rococo scroll border on white ground, main lid with matching scroll border and suited with the twin trellis panels in lighter blue on the soft white ground, edge of a canted corner profile with electric blue lozenge infil with zig-zag engine turning below, the front with a beautiful painted scene of two putti to the Renascence pedigree resting within the falls of a red drape, with central crested wreath and mirrored trails in the two-tone blue on white ground, matching sides and back with this panel bearing another flutist reading from a score, within the matching blue matrix scrolls, the whole with the soft white enamel ground and with full frame engine turning beneath to a basket-weave pattern for the most light refraction and tonal change once handling, on tall bracket feet with each having the white seamlessly running to finish this fine piece.
 
Stamped to underside Sterling.
 
Size -
 
Point of interest -             
 
Few going-barrel singing bird boxes beat this for quality of enamel, the sheer amount of enamel and bird appearance and song.  The clever engine turning beneath the enamel bring the colours alive.  So many more tone changes occur once this is handled and moved by the hand in the light, to all sides.  The putti to the front are simply perfectly executed, almost photographic in detail. 
All the hallmarks of a level of workmanship now viewed, sadly, as to be unbeaten...
STOCK No1430
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A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925
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A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925A superb silver and full guilloche painted enamel singing bird box, circa 1925
 
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75 Portobello Road London W11 2QB 0207 221 1121 07967 385258
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