Antique bird automaton set to fly in Chorley’s sale

An antique bird automaton from Bontems in Chorley's saleA rare antique bird automaton by Bontems of Paris in the form of a birdcage containing two birds, one on a floral branch, a square gilt base with canted corners is up for auction in Gloucestershire later this month.

The antique bird automaton will feature in Chorley’s Country House sale on July 24 and 25, with an estimated value of between £2,000 to £3,000.

Bontems was a noted Parisian specialist, renowned worldwide in the manufacture of automaton singing birds in the 19th century.

In 1867 a reporter described the singing birds as having a “soul” and they were renowned for the realism of their song and the movements of their wings tails and bodies which are generated by a complex arrangement of gears, springs and bellows.

 

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