French Automaton Music Box, ca. 1840
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GUEST:
I don't know a lot. It was my father's cousin Uncle John, and he lived in Manhattan. He actually worked with Coco Chanel, as I understand, in the '40s and '50s. And when he passed, my father flew to this beautiful apartment he had in New York, and picked out just what he could carry home in a suitcase. I understand there were some pretty valuable things that left by friends that wanted a memento. But this came home, and so I now have this, and it's pretty. But that's about all I know about it.
APPRAISER:
And do you know what it's called?
I've always called it the bird music box.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so it's called an automaton. It's French, around about 1830 to 1850. And the movement inside is Swiss, and if we give this a moment, I'm gonna open it up, and we'll be able to listen to the music, okay?
Fantastic.
(twittering)
Isn't that cool?
APPRAISER:
It's super-cool. It's a wind-up movement, uh, and we have the key here, which is really great, to have this little bird-shaped key. It's fun. Sometimes they get lost. It's made of silver and enamel.
Huh.
APPRAISER:
And all of the painting on it is enamel. The painting here is after a painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. And it's of a girl letting a bird out of a cage.
Oh, I never noticed that.
APPRAISER:
And actually, the bird in the cage is emblematic of her purity. Okay. So she's actually releasing her purity.
GUEST:
Oh, my.
APPRAISER:
Yes, so it's sort of mildly erotic in nature.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
We've looked at the inside. And what's also very interesting, I'll turn this around here...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...is that there is this compartment in the back. I, what is it? I mean...
GUEST:
I thought it might be a snuff box or something.
APPRAISER:
That's a great question, and in all honesty, we've spoken with a number of appraisers here, and its true purpose we don't know. Okay. It could have been for ladies' patches. It's possible that that would be a place that you could store the key. It's unlikely for snuff-- it would have spilled out.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And because these music boxes were traditionally laid out, you wouldn't have any valuable items in there.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
If this were to come up for auction, an auction estimate would be $8,000 to $12,000.
GUEST:
Oh, fantastic! That's... ...something I better thank Uncle John for, wherever he is.
APPRAISER:
That's great. (twittering)
Appraisal Details
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