Travel clock: significant, museum-quality, complicated Japy Frères

Ca. 30 cm high, with carrying handle, bronze, fire-gilt, signed and numbered movement, Japy Frères No. 4529, self-striking and repeater on bell; housed in the base is the movement for the automaton, which activates on the hour and on demand (by operating the lever in the base plate), enamelled dial, steel hands, extremely rare. The bird and its decoration are still in their original condition. The automaton activates, causing the bird to turn back and forth, but no sound is produced as the bellows are damaged. The striking mechanism also activates; the movement and the automaton require overhaul. The watch has not been used for decades and therefore requires general restoration. According to Antiquorum Geneva, only a ‘handful’ of these automatic travel watches are known to exist and are still in working order today; for example, one was auctioned in Geneva in 2012 for 62,500 Swiss francs (https://www.cortrie.de/go/vN5).

Estimate:-

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