Details
Image(s)
TitleSinging Bird Snuff Box with Slide Whistle Movement
Creator Frères Rochat (watchmaker), Clemens Gerardus Franciscus van Arcken (juwelier)
PlaceGeneva (Switzerland), Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Year 1851
Object number0097
Object categorymechanical wind instruments
DescriptionThis sophisticated snuff box is made of tortoiseshell. Under the medallion with an enamel painting of a cityscape on a lake, a tiny mechanical bird is concealed. When the medallion flips open, the little bird comes out. This mechanical wonder moves back and forth, flapping its wings and turning its head as its tiny beak moves up and down. And, meanwhile, his song sounds, produced by a piston whistle with mechanics. He then disappears as quickly as he came, and the medallion closes again. Eight programme discs stacked on top of each other contain the bird's whistle and movement programme. Inside the box is the mechanism where a small bellows supplies the piston whistle with air.
Accompanying textsThe melody of this little bird is inscribed on a brass programme disk. The piston whistle is responsible for the chirping sound of this little bird.
On the gilt inner side of the medallion, the name 'Van Arcken Amsterdam' is engraved. However, Van Arcken was not the maker of this object, but the seller. Musical and ingenious objects with automatons, such as watches and snuff boxes, were often ordered in Geneva at the time to sell here in the Netherlands. It was not unusual for the seller in question to add his own signature to the object, as van Arcken did in this case. Van Arcken was himself a gifted royal watchmaker. In 1851, he established himself as a "Fabrijkant van Horologien en Chronometers" on Kalverstraat. In 1854, he was appointed court supplier by King William III, who reportedly visited van Arcken's jewellery shop regularly. Through his firm, this bird snuffbox was sold. The then successful firm Rochat (Geneva, Switzerland) was responsible for the manufacture of the mechanism and the little bird.
On the gilt inner side of the medallion, the name 'Van Arcken Amsterdam' is engraved. However, Van Arcken was not the maker of this object, but the seller. Musical and ingenious objects with automatons, such as watches and snuff boxes, were often ordered in Geneva at the time to sell here in the Netherlands. It was not unusual for the seller in question to add his own signature to the object, as van Arcken did in this case. Van Arcken was himself a gifted royal watchmaker. In 1851, he established himself as a "Fabrijkant van Horologien en Chronometers" on Kalverstraat. In 1854, he was appointed court supplier by King William III, who reportedly visited van Arcken's jewellery shop regularly. Through his firm, this bird snuffbox was sold. The then successful firm Rochat (Geneva, Switzerland) was responsible for the manufacture of the mechanism and the little bird.
Dimensions
geheel height: 3 cm
geheel width: 9.4 cm
geheel depth: 6.2 cm
met vogel open height: 6 cm
met snuif open depth: 8.4 cm
binnenwerk height: 2.8 cm
binnenwerk width: 8.6 cm
binennwerk depth: 4.15 cm
geheel width: 9.4 cm
geheel depth: 6.2 cm
met vogel open height: 6 cm
met snuif open depth: 8.4 cm
binnenwerk height: 2.8 cm
binnenwerk width: 8.6 cm
binennwerk depth: 4.15 cm