Automaton with a singing bird in an octagonal cage Karl GriesbaumSold

A rare early automaton by Karl Griesbaum, the founder of the famous German manufactory of singing birds, made in a miniature format characteristic of the first years of the workshop: cells of this type have established dimensions of about 25 cm in height with a base of 12 × 16 cm, which makes the object easily recognizable in the body of the company’s early products.
The octagonal domed cage is assembled from smooth and twisted brass rods and decorated with signature pearl belts - a beaded pattern that has become the hallmark of Griesbaum's cages and distinguishes them from the French schools with their chased laurel belts. The finish is a polished ball with a movable ring-handle. The octagonal pedestal with gilded tinting is decorated with an applied openwork quatrefoil; the bottom of the cage is covered with green velvet, above which is raised a brass crossbar, entwined with a silk branch with carved leaves and scarlet “berries”.
On the translation is a mechanical singing bird of ocher-golden plumage with an open beak and a yellow glass eye. The plasticity of the head demonstrates the signature technique of the early Griesbaum: the beak is made as a single continuous extension of the line of the forehead, without breaking the profile between the crown and the beak - a sign by which the workshop’s works are confidently separated from the products of other companies and from their own later releases. The figure is mounted using taxidermy technology on a genuine feather, with twisted wire legs, characteristic of the early period of production.
The mechanism is classic Griesbaum: a spring motor with a package of cams and a bellows whistle, a flag start lever and a sound window with a mesh on the bottom plate. When launched, the bird demonstrates rapid, “temperamental” movements - turns of the head, fluttering of the wings and tail, work of the beak - and a thin, high-pitched singing that has made the workshop famous throughout the world.
Carl Griesbaum (1872–1941) founded the production in 1905 and became the dominant maker of singing automata of the 20th century; Early pieces like the present one were produced in small series and today are of particular collector's value. Export marks “Made in Germany” and the KEN‑D diamond indicate that the item was intended for the foreign market, where German singing birds were in constant demand.
The item retains the noble patina of time: brass with an even age tone, gilding of the pedestal with natural abrasions, velvet and silk flora with soft fading, bird plumage with a slight ruffle that does not detract from the expressiveness of the image. Authenticity and early dating are confirmed by a combination of signature features: pearl belts, twisted wire paws, a beak extension of the head and export marks of the workshop.