NEW YORK, NY.- This June, Sotheby’s will offer a magnificent private collection of musical automata that embodies the golden age of Swiss craftsmanship during the Industrial Revolution, when noted makers married technology and artistry to create miraculous objects in miniature, for export throughout Europe, Turkey, India and the Imperial Court in China. The collection of late-18th and early-19th century snuffboxes and timepieces will lead Sotheby’s New York sale of Important Watches on 11 June 2015.

Assembled across five decades, the collection of museum-quality works includes some of the most iconic and historical objects from the period – many of them unseen for generations, and known only from literature. The collection offers pieces by preeminent artisans of the day, including watchmakers Jacquet-Droz and Piguet & Meylan, and gold box maker Jean George Rémond. Many of the works are distinguished further by exceptional provenance, including the celebrated collections King Farouk of Egypt, Maurice Sandoz, and Sir David Salomon.

Together, the 21 pieces are estimated to achieve in excess of $2.3 million in Sotheby’s June auction. The collection is led by The Singing Bird Scent Flask timepiece, made in Geneva circa 1785 by Jacquet Droz (estimate $800,000 / 1.2 million). Measuring 16 centimeters tall, the flask perfectly combines mechanical ingenuity and artistic expression and includes an automated singing bird, a tour de force of design and technical prowess.

Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby’s Watches & Clocks Department, commented: “It is a privilege and rare occasion to offer one automaton of this quality. To present a collection that includes so many captivating pieces of this caliber is staggering. These works were the ultimate luxury toys of their day – a sign of wealth that epitomized Swiss technological and creative genius. It’s difficult today to wrap one’s head around the level of sophistication necessary to produce these mechanical objects at the turn of the 19th century, let alone to marry that achievement with the highest-quality enamel scenes that are essentially miniature Old Master paintings. These automata weren’t just created without the aid of computers – they were early computers in their own right.”

COLLECTION HIGHLIGHTS

The Singing Bird Scent Flask, Made for The Chinese Market, Attributed to Jacquet-Droz & Leschot, Geneva, circa 1785. Estimate $800,000 / 1.2 million
This technological marvel was purchased by famed Swiss collector Maurice Sandoz in 1942 from the New York dealer, A La Vielle Russie, for $2,997. The automaton features an articulated ivory bird – measuring just 12 millimeters tall – which is accompanied by a miniature organ to replicate the bird’s song. The superbly-decorated and constructed scent flask, covered in enamel and jewels, is centered by a recessed medallion with a magnificent scene with varicolored gold sculpture representing a branch with leaves with the singing bird automaton perched atop.

The Fortune Teller, A gold snuff box with concealed musical automata and timepiece, Made for The Chinese Market, Attributed to Piguet & Meylan (No. 4188); the box attributed to Jean-George Rémond, Geneva, circa 1815. Estimate $300/500,000
This automaton snuffbox is finished with a remarkable enamel painting of a fortune teller reading a palm. The complex automaton and watch movement is housed within a gold box made by Jean-George Rémond that is adorned with pearls and enamel. Within the underside of the box lies the automaton, featuring a lady playing a harp and a gentleman with a lute, both of who reside in another classical interior that features a large timepiece in the top right of the scene.

The Fortune Teller was originally in the legendary collection of King Farouk of Egypt, and was sold by Sotheby’s in Cairo in the 1954 auction of The Palace Collections of Egypt.

A Rare Gold, Jeweled and Pearl Automaton Caterpillar, Made for The Chinese Market, Attributed to Henri Maillardet, Circa 1820. Estimate $100/150,000
A conspicuous lever on the side of the Caterpillar activates a realistic crawling motion – moving the body up, down and forwards. The realism is heightened further by the round body, which comprises 11 jointed segments.

The Barking Dog Watch, Made for The Chinese Market, Piguet & Meylan, Geneva, circa 1810. Estimate $70/100,000
Approximately twenty 'barking dog' watches by Piguet & Meylan are known today. The dog’s bark is produced by a set of bellows activated by pushing the pendant, thus marking the hours and quarters, setting the current example apart is its miniature size measuring a diameter of 39mm and one of only two made in this diameter.

A Vari-Color Gold and Enamel Automaton Snuff Box, Made for the Chinese Market, Guidon, Guide et Blondel, Geneva, circa 1800. Estimate $200/400,000
The top cover of this snuffbox – decorated with translucent blue enamel – opens to reveal an elaborate scene depicting a bustling courtyard with eleven automata figures clearly meant to amaze, including: a mounted huntsman with horn; a horse pulling a wagon; and a lady innkeeper sounding a bell, calling the guests to dinner, all set against a finely enameled landscape depicting a shepherdess within an architectural setting.