Details
Image(s)
TitleMusical Automaton Birdcage with Slide Whistle Movement
Creator Blaise Bontems (manufacturer)
PlaceParis (France)
Year ca. 1900
Object number0892
Object categorymechanical wind instruments, automata with musical movements
DescriptionThis automaton, a pair of mechanical birds in a gilded cage, is attributed to Blaise Bontems. The birds are able to 'sing' thanks to a piston whistle.
Accompanying textsThe piston whistle is not limited to a selection from 12 equally-spaced pitches, like most other instruments and music carriers in our collection, but instead glides more freely through the pitch spectrum in a fairly close imitation of birdsong.
The heyday of mechanical songbirds coincided with a huge trend of keeping real live canaries in cages. Perhaps an automatic version was seen by some consumers as an easier, cleaner or more humane alternative (although many such automata also used real birds with taxidermy).
The heyday of mechanical songbirds coincided with a huge trend of keeping real live canaries in cages. Perhaps an automatic version was seen by some consumers as an easier, cleaner or more humane alternative (although many such automata also used real birds with taxidermy).
Dimensions
geheel height: 54 cm
geheel width: 28 cm
geheel depth: 25 cm
geheel width: 28 cm
geheel depth: 25 cm