Not for sale
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Songbird · Hall I
Forest scene: redstart on a branch and mallard at the footNot for sale
600 000 ₽
This bird is not for sale.
Description
A rare type of cabinet slot machine - a “natural scene” instead of the usual cage with a perch: inside a domed cage with three hoops and figured crowns, a miniature landscape unfolds. On a mossy rock with ferns and pine needles, a trunk-perch rises, on which sits a bird with a black head and a red breast (redstart); at the foot, at the edge of the “pond,” is a mallard drake. The brushed brass base is decorated with engraved floral sprigs and a hammered floral belt. Such naturalistic automata are the hallmark of the Parisian Falibois school, where mechanics were combined with almost museum taxidermy.
Mechanism passport
| Type | spring cam automaton with pneumatic voice module. |
|---|---|
| Functions (by analogues) | singing and movements of a bird on a branch (head, beak, wings, tail); the duck shakes its head and beak. |
| Winding | square shaft through a hole in the side surface of the base; The key is missing from the photo. |
| Bottom | wooden, gilded, three turned legs; the rest of the paper label (unreadable), two mounting screws, a shaped hole for the factory. |
| Height | ≈ 50–55 cm. |
| Condition | “as found” - plants and tinting with age-related losses, label lost, mechanism requires inspection and, probably, preventive maintenance; pick up the key. |
