ART STORIES

JEAN BAPTISTE SIMÉON CHARDIN (1699 Paris 1779)
La Serinette, dit aussi Dame variant ses amusements. 1751.
Note the 'serinette' being played by the woman
© 2010 RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) – René-Gabriel Ojéda

Teaching a canary to sing may seem like carrying coals to Newcastle, but the birds actually will not sing unless exposed to music – whether the birdsong of others of its species, as occurs in nature, or an imitation thereof, such as music played by their human captors.

Canary training began to flourish in England, Germany and France in the 18th century, particularly after a certain Monsieur Hervieux (1683–1747), author of two popular treatises on canaries, became the keeper of the aviaries of the Princesse de Condé, and organised a series of celebrated canary concerts. Raising and training singing canaries for performances became so popular that some society ladies engaged in buying and selling them, a serious breech of etiquette at the time. Mozart apparently adored canaries, and kept one close to him at the end of his life until he had it removed because its beautiful song was torture for his broken heart. In 19th century Holland, a single canary could cost as much as a week’s wages for the average man, and demand was so strong by the end of the century that breeders in Germany’s Harz mountains were exporting more than 150 000 canaries each year.

A GOLD AND ENAMEL BOX WITH SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON
Geneva, circa 1790. The movement signed Jaquet-Droz & Leschot London and inscribed N 29, maker's mark crowned GRC for Georges Rémond & Cie.
Estimate: CHF 30 000 / 50 000
Auction on 21 March 2024
Click on the image for more information

A GOLD AND ENAMEL BOX WITH SINGING BIRD AUTOMATON, CLOCK AND CYLINDER MUSICAL MOVEMENT
Geneva, circa 1810–25. The movement by Rochat Frères (active in Geneva 1810–1825).
Estimate: CHF 60 000 / 100 000
Auction on 21 March 2024
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An advertising postcard for Little Tweet, the canary Caruso

Not all canaries sing well and willingly, so besides being bred to select the best singers, proper training is essential. Males are generally better singers than females, and they must be isolated from other canaries at a very young age, lest they develop an inferior repertoire. Hervieux recommended playing specific pieces of music to them several times a day on a flageolet, a type of duct flute, taking care not to play in a key too high for the bird, otherwise the canary will attempt to mimic it and ‘dry out its lungs so severely that it will soon wither away and die’. The process could become quite complicated: artificial light and cage covers were used to simulate the optimal seasons for singing, and if a young male canary learned the wrong tune, it could be placed with a group of older females who would chase it until it stopped reproducing it. But all of this effort was worth it for the chance of having a champion singing bird – provided the diva deigned to sing before the judges on the big day.

In order to ensure that one’s canary learned the proper music, a miniature barrel organ was invented in the 18th century, called a ‘serinette’ after the old French name for canary. Others opted for a more reliable and ingenious solution: the singing bird automaton. Like the nightingale in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, many wealthy and noble persons replaced their feathered friends with mechanical versions, incredibly complicated and bejewelled works of art such as the two examples in our March auction. Switzerland was the centre of this luxury production, and examples were furnished not only to the crowned heads of Europe but also as far as Turkey and the Far East.

Singing canaries continued to be popular attractions in the early 20th century, and with the advent of recorded music some new stars were born, such as Little Tweet, the ‘Canary Caruso’, who twittered along to the ‘The Bells of St Mary’s’ and ‘Londonderry Air’ in the late 1920s. Today, singing bird automatons are witnesses to an era when many people found it essential to bring the sounds of nature into their everyday lives.

You can browse all of the catalogues of our upcoming auctions here:

A canary trainer playing the flageolet for his 'students' (in: The Bird Fancyer's Delight. Richard Meares, London, 1717).

A PAIR OF RESTAURATION STYLE SINGING BIRD AUTOMATONS
probably Geneva, circa 1900.
Soild in September 2009 for CHF 12 000