Spooky Love: A Danse Macabre - automaton book by Thomas Kuntz

Check out this recent work by sculptor and automaton maker, Thomas Kuntz.The beautiful leather-bound book when opened, features a pair of well-dress skeletons dancing under the moonlit sky. The music box movement, made by the renowned Reuge company, was adapted to power the scratch-built cam and lever system that makes the skeletons dance and the moon change size. Some interesting still shots towards the end of the video show some of the artist's in-process shots.

See more automata by Thomas Kuntz on his web site.

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Book: Flights of Fancy - Mechanical Singing Birds

A very comprehensive volume on mechanical singing birds.

From the book description:

This unique book traces the evolution of singing birds from antiquity to modern times, with particular attention to the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century, the "Golden Age" of mechanical singing birds - Jaquet-Droz, Leschot and Rochat were the most famous artists of this period - the first part of the book deals with the transformation of singing birds during the Renaissance period into an instrument of bird imitation during the 17th and 18th centuries - rich color iconography of subjects selected from museums and private collections all over the world, with several yet unpublished pieces (over 500) - an indispensable reference for collectors, specialists and for those as yet unacquainted.

Here's a link to Flights of Fancy - Mechanical Singing Birds at AbeBooks.com.

Here's a link to Flights of Fancy - Mechanical Singing Birds on Amazon.com.

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Swiss singing bird music box clock automaton

Here's an attractive, fairly recently made miniature singing bird music box by Swiss manufacturer Reuge.

From the eBay listing:

Offered for sale is a singing bird music box made in Switzerland by Reuge, probably made in the 1980's. The multi-colored bird is in full feather and will sing a beautiful song. This is in perfect working and singing condition, having been recently serviced by a professional restorer. The clock is separate from the bird automaton and does not activate it. The bird plays by pulling out the knob on the right-hand side. It is in very fine condition, mechanically and cosmetically.

Here's the eBay listing for this particular Swiss singing bird music box clock automaton

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Vintage automatic cigarette dispenser music box

Here is a neat vintage automatic cigarette dispenser on eBay. There is a button on the front that when pushed starts a the music box. The multiple doors of the dispenser gently open to reveal the chamber inside and reverse side of the doors where cigarettes have been placed. The doors then close on their own to finish the cycle.

Here is the full eBay listing with many other pictures for this Vintage automatic cigarette dispenser music box

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Reuge Musical Alarm Pocket Watch with Automata

Take a look at this beautiful pocket watch by famed music box maker, Reuge.

This entirely mechanical pocket watch features the an alarm that uses an internal music box to play "Oh what a beautiful morning". The face of the watch also features three moving automata.

The man on the horse moves his arm up and down, the horse lowers its head to drink the water and the lady operates the pump. In a very nice bit of detail, the water itself can be seen flowing from the pump into the basin.

The watch comes with its original box and key -- a Breguet ratchet style and is used to wind up the music box. There is also a button on the back that will start and stop the music and automata.

Here is the complete eBay listing with many more nice photographs of the musical alarm pocket watch with automata by Reuge

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