JAQUET-DROZ and followers

Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
​See also : Mechanical craft ca 1800
Chronology : 1800-1809  1820-1829

1786 Singing Bird by Jaquet-Droz, Leschot et Frisard
2015 SOLD for $ 2.53M by Sotheby's

Pierre Jaquet-Droz engineered automata in a very high complexity that could include hundreds of mechanical components.

His workshop started in the 1770s the theme of the bird cage that will deserve a great success. The song of the bird is obtained by a miniature mechanical organ named serinette with a unique note per pipe. Six pipes are enough to provide the illusion of a high variety.

In the middle of the next decade, Pierre Jaquet-Droz is associated with his son Henri-Louis and with Jean-Frédéric Leschot and engages the best mechanicians of Geneva including Henri Maillardet and Jacob Frisard. The trend to miniaturization increases and Frisard invents around 1784 the box that throws out the songbird at opening and folds it back at closing.

Success invites for the diversification of models and the integration of these mechanisms in enamelled goldware of highest luxury. The Chinese imperial court is interested in these innovations. From London, the clever entrepreneur James Cox maintains trade relations with the Far East.

On June 11, 2015, Sotheby's sold for $ 2.53M from a lower estimate if $ 800K a sumptuous automaton with an articulated singing bird made by Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Frisard circa 1786, lot 104.

This piece 16 cm high has the shape of a scent flask with its stopper and also incorporates a watch, as it was often the case in this range of products. The size of the bird, 12 mm high, demonstrates the extreme miniaturization achieved by Jaquet-Droz at the time of Frisard.

​It had been sold to Cox in 1787, certainly for the Chinese market.

​1797 Singing Bird Amphora by Rémond
​2019 SOLD for CHF 1.02M by Antiquorum

The insertion of the singing bird into a clock is a technical feat of mechanical miniaturization, both for the realistic movement of the bird and for the sound produced by a tiny serinette. Its invention is attributed to Frisard working for the company of Jaquet-Droz and Leschot in Geneva.

The first birds are hosted in cages. In two subsequent phases of miniaturization, they appear in vertical cases before popping from snuffboxes through an opening in the flat lid.

The vertical structures take the form of a scent amphora decorated with the greatest luxury. In 1787 the company Jaquet-Droz et Leschot sold two identical flacons to James Cox, the London watchmaker who also acted as an intermediary for the Chinese market.

One of these two timepieces, 16 cm high, was sold for $ 2.53M by Sotheby's in 2015. On the rear of the amphora, the canary moves behind a round glass pane when a button is activated on a side of the piece. The rich gilded and enameled decoration is set with pearls and various gems.

On May 11, 2019, Antiquorum sold for CHF 1.02M a clock similarly designed but including some refinements, lot 35 here linked on the Invaluable bidding platform. It is luxurious with a nice blue enamel, gold and pearls but without gems. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

This 19.4 cm high timepiece was made by Georges Rémond et Cie in Geneva, with components dated 1796 and 1797. It is thus later than the death of Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1790 and of his son in 1791 and was possibly executed under a franchise from Leschot.

When inactive, the bird is concealed behind a round medallion decorated by a woman with bird after Boucher. The pressing of the button simultaneously triggers the opening of the door and the movement and song of the bird. The tail protrudes outside during its turning movement. The door closes automatically when the sequence is finished.

1800 Nécessaire de voyage
2021 SOLD for HK$ 6.2M by Sotheby's

A highly rare Swiss complication box was sold for HK $ 6.2M by Sotheby's on October 13, 2021, lot 2230. It is narrated beside a Magician box from the same auction in the video shared by the auction house.

This exquisite work box known as a nécessaire de voyage or étui de voyage has been made in the fashion of the Chinese market. The maker is not identified. The catalogue proposes a date ca 1800. It is fitted in a presentation box with the mark of P. Orr and Sons, a watch retailer founded by a Scottish emigrate in Madras in 1846.

This larger than usual pearl set gold box is 84 mm high and 45 mm wide. It incorporates a watch, a music and an automaton. The walls are decorated in polychrome and champlevé enamel. The top compartment still keeps its tiny gold and enamel instruments for the Lady : scissors, knife, scent bottle, tweezers, cuticle stick, punch and its original key for the mechanisms.

The watch and the automaton are hidden in a compartment that opens from the base. The automaton displays a lutenist who is dancing a dog.

​Only one similar example is known.

1805 Amphora by Piguet et Capt

1
​2002 SOLD for CHF 4M (worth at that time US $ 2.4M) by Antiquorum

From 1802 to 1811 in Geneva, Piguet et Capt is the association of two mechanical craftsmen. A specialist in automata, Henry Capt had worked with Jaquet-Droz. He continued as an independent while his brother-in-law Daniel Isaac Piguet joined forces with Philippe Samuel Meylan.

The specialty of Piguet et Capt was the combination of miniature watches, automatons and music in jewelled structures of the greatest luxury, abundantly decorated with pearls and enamels. The shapes are varied : rings, snuff boxes, fans, shields.

On April 13, 2002, Antiquorum sold as lot 607 for CHF 4M worth at that time $ 2.4M a 10 cm high amphora attributed to Piguet et Capt. It had been one from a pair whose enamel panels are reversed from one another. Only one other pair is known and no single. They are not signed.

These exquisite musical gold pieces were made circa 1805 for the Chinese market, with an abundance of pearls. The upper part, between the top of the handles, is centered by two dials and an opening onto the mechanism. Note that skeleton watches were also a specialty of Meylan.

The belly of the amphora is painted in enamel of a mother and child in the style of Vigée-Le Brun. This small panel tilts forward to reveal a double-movement musical automaton in front of a pastoral background : a boy bounces a dog, and a young woman plays the guitar. The backside is decorated with a pastoral river scene on the lower panel and a dove in a flower basket on the upper panel.

This piece was later sold for HK $ 12.3M by Christie's on May 22, 2021, lot 2505. Its twin element had been sold for CHF 910K by Antiquorum on March 31, 2001, lot 47.

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2001 SOLD for CHF 910K by Antiquorum

An amphora shaped watch by Piguet et Capt was sold for CHF 910K by Antiquorum on March 31, 2001, lot 47. It is now kept at the Patek Philippe museum, same as one element of the other known pair.

It was part of a pair whose other element was sold for CHF 4M by the same auction house in 2002.

3
2021 SOLD for HK$ 6.3M by Christie's

The other pair of amphora shaped gold watches from the same model is decorated with a scene of Helen and Paris while the automaton displays a pastoral scene with a girl and a cherub playing lyre and drums. The back side enamel decoration is floral in the lower panel and has a putto riding a swan in the upper panel.

An element of that pair was sold for CHF 560K  by Antiquorum on April 22, 1995, lot 501. It is now kept at the Patek Philippe museum, same as one element of the other known pair.

Recently discovered, its twin with the mirror images was sold for HK $ 6.3M by Christie's on November 27, 2021, lot 2505.

1805-1810 Automaton by Piguet et Capt
2010 SOLD for CHF 750K by Sotheby's

Qianlong, the emperor of China who encouraged all forms of art, was a big fan of clocks and automata. His reign lived the development of the workshops in Guangzhou (Canton), in connection with England.

A few years later, Switzerland got in turn the benefit of this export market. Its skilled craftsmen offered the progress of miniaturization, which was so well suited to the Chinese refined mood. The workshops produced gold watches and automata in flat packages decorated with enamel.

An automaton attributed to Piguet & Capt and dated between 1805 and 1810 was sold for CHF 750K from a lower estimate of CHF 400K by Sotheby's on May 9, 2010. It is shield shaped 55 x 38 x 11 mm, its edge being marked by a row of large pearls.

The front shows a pastoral scene made in three colored gold on a background of finely enameled lake landscape. The shepherdess and her animals are playing different movements of the arms and head beside a water mill whose wheel turns, for a total of seven motions. The back is illustrated by the fixed enamel portrait of two children.

This piece had belonged to King Farouk is estimated CHF 400K.

1807-1808 Snuff Box by Sené et Neisser
2020 SOLD for £ 675K by Sotheby's

In the early 1800s, Swiss mechanics produced automatons of increasing complexity for the Chinese market. The mechanisms are integrated into several types of boxes, often decorated with rows of pearls. A theater stage is a suitable theme to support an animation. 

On July 14, 2020, Sotheby's sold for £ 675K a snuff box 8.4 cm wide that conceals several surprises, lot 27.

It has the shape of a small book whose front cover decorated with a leopard opens to display a Temple of Music. The triggering of the movement opens the central door of the temple, activating the performance of a musician before the back of the stage slides to reveal a sanctuary with a flaming altar.

The spine of the book is divided into four sections. The two middle parts open together to make a storage compartment for a key. The upper and lower sections hide respectively a watch and a vinaigrette, which was used by the ladies to sniff a perfume to avoid fainting.

The case was made by Sené et Neisser, two jewelers who were associated between 1805 and 1808 in Geneva. The terminus post quem of its specific maker's mark is 1807. The movement may have been made by Puyroche, an assembler (établisseur in the wording of that time) from Geneva who signed one of its components.

1820 Singing Bird Pistols by Rochat
2011 SOLD for HK$ 45.5M by Christie's

Geneva got an important place in art history for its jewelry and its precision mechanical crafts. A pair of singing birds created circa 1820, attributed to Frères Rochat, was sold by Christie's on May 30, 2011 for HK $ 45.5M from a lower estimate of HK $ 20M. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

These automata are pistol shaped and their barrels house the hundreds of mechanical components. The decor is exquisite and the materials are precious: gold, enamel, agate, pearl, diamond.

When the trigger is pulled, the colorful bird leaves at the end of the barrel, turns, opens and closes its wings and beak, sings. After such a work, it returns home.

They are in superb condition, as demonstrated by a video on the website of Christie's. Singing bird pistol automaton are very rare, and these are the only remaining examples that have been kept as a pair. 

​1820 Magician Box by Piguet et Meylan
2016 SOLD for $ 1.2M by Sotheby's

The first automaton clock that featured a magician was developed from 1787 by the firm of Jaquet-Droz for the Chinese market.

The magician answers riddles or performs transformations or escapes. In the question and answer type, the operator inserts a tablet in a slot. This action releases the animation and the music. When the wand of the magician ceases to oscillate, the machine responds by the opening of a window previously hidden by a branch.

Five boxes of that type are surviving. They may be dated from 1810 to 1823.

An exquisite 90 x 55 mm snuff box with the magician automaton is made in pearl set gold in the fashion that pleased the Chinese market. It is stamped IGRC for Jean-Georges Rémond et Compagnie also known as Rémond Lamy Mercier. Its unofficial Geneva 18k gold mark provides a terminus ante quem in 1815. The lid is decorated in multicolored enamels with a Turkish couple consulting a sorcerer. The side walls are also enameled.

It is accompanied with six double sided gold and enamel tablets in English. A charming example of question and answer is "The Confident of a woman recently married - A Husband".

This box was withdrawn by Sotheby's on October 13, 2021, lot 2229. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.

​On June 8, 2016, Sotheby's sold for $ 1.2M a gold and enamel snuff box attributed to Piguet et Meylan concealing an automaton with a magician and a musician, lot 81. This piece had belonged to the collection of King Farouk. The automaton is demonstrated in the video shared by Sotheby's to announce the sale. 

As usual, its make had required some specialized craftsmen. The four tone gold work is signed by Chénevard et Jouvet who associated from 1820 to 1824. The scene with the magician is similar in many details as in the earlier example by Rémond sold by Sotheby's in 2021. A young lyre player has been added in the later automaton.

This box in perfect condition keeps for its questions its five double-sided tablets that are differentiated by the position of an off-centered hole. The riddles are in French. A charming example is "Que désire fille de 16 ans? – un mari".

The Swiss automatons amaze us with their mechanical ingenuity. Some charm us with their puzzles. The case of a writer realized around 1800 is famous : once repaired in 1928, this previously anonymous instrument records on its own page : "Ecrit par l'automate de Maillardet".
Similarly a tablet for our magician box is asking "Qui t'a créé ?". The reply is : "CH Oudin".

That magician box did not however offer the same mystery as the writer of Maillardet : its gild brass movement is confirming "Chas. Oudin, 52 Palais Royal, Paris" on a backplate.

Charles Oudin was one of the best assistants to Breguet for whom he worked on the mechanism of the equation of time and on the tactile watch before establishing his own business. His participation in the mechanics of an automaton demonstrates an unexpected encounter between the followers of the two most talented mechanical engineers of all time, Jaquet-Droz and Breguet.