A fine antique silver-gilt and enamel singing bird box, by Charles Bruguier. Fusee movement. When wound and the start/stop slide actuated smartly to the right, the bird lid rises and suddenly appears the plumaged feathered bird, opening and closing beak, turning head left and right, flapping both wings, bobbing tailfeather and rotating whole body from side to side, all perfectly synchronised to the slight paused sequential birdsong, then ending the performance as quickly as it began. With the eight cam-stack providing the early-type 1-1-2-3-2-3-4 sequence, stamped to baseplate C. BRUGUIER Á GENEVE. The bird with dark forest-green feathered plumage, accompanied by flashes of red and iridescence of green and plum hues, rising up through very finely pierced and chased gilt grille with bird-form centrum, bird lid interior with a beautiful painted enamel study of a rose and pansy spray, set off on pale blue ground, the bird lid top with a pictorial enamel view of a sailing vessal upon the water of a remote lake in an Alpine valley, with shore side chapel. The main lid with predominant field of rich striking geometric blue enamel design, on the exceptional tooled base with all sides having very complex inter-weave diametrically and vertically tooled bands all interlocking to produce the astonishing three-dimensional effect, shaped corners with mitre tops, rounded with X splats, underside with huge geometric tooled crest of the highest degree with leaf trail drops, on miniature weave ground, hidden key compartment to rear, start/stop with central rounded button front-right. Size - 3.7/8in. Wide, 2.3/4in. Deep, 1.1/2 high - (10 x 7 x 3.8cm) Circa early 1830s