An extremely rare Bruguier fusee singing bird box. It is the earliest numbered Bruguier that is known to exist. Until now it was thought that the earliest known Bruguier was number 67, this is number 24. This bird box comes from the first year that Charles Bruguier began making bird boxes, 1823. It is in excellent condition, I am going to clean the case, the enamel is perfect and the green guilloche is very unusual to find on bird boxes of this early period and almost never by Bruguier. I cannot think of another instance where I have seen it used by Bruguier. The black enamel diamond pattern on gold ground is also very unusual. The subject on the lid is an alpine Lakeland scene with a castle in the foreground. Superb engraving to the silver case and the gilding is in excellent condition. The full early signature is “ Charles Bruguier Rue des Paquis 5 a Geneve” the signature stamped into the plates “C.BRUGUIER A GENEVE 24” and the number 24 scribed into the box itself. The bird box is key wound from beneath and when the start slide is pressed to the right the lid lifts, the bird pops up and starts to sing and at the same time turning to left and right, flaps his wings, opens and shuts his ivory beak and allows his head to turn from side to side. When he completes after about 15 seconds he pops down beneath the grill and the lid closes. The box is quite small 3.5 inches wide by 2.25 inches deep and 1.25 inches high ( 87 cms by 56 cms by 31 cms). This is the first known Charles Bruguier fusee singing bird box, it is in perfect original condition with no damage, original plumage to the bird, perfect enamel.