C. Bruguier & Fils

C. Bruguier & Fils, Geneva, No. 138, retailed by A. Golay Leresche & Fils, Geneva, Rue de la Paix 2, Paris. Made for the Italian market circa 1860. Very fine 18k gold and enamel, diamond-set singing bird box in a leather fitted box. Notes Charles-Abraham Bruguier (1788-1862) Born on January 5, 1788, in Geneva, he was the son of a clockmaker and became a clockmaker himself. In 1815, Charles- Abraham Bruguier took his family to London, where they lived for several years. Two children were born in London: Charles- Abraham in 1818, and Louise in 1821. The Bruguier family returned to Switzerland around 1823. Judith, their fourth child, was born in Geneva in 1825. It is apparently only after the return to Geneva, where they first settled in the rue de Coutance 87, that is, after 1823, that Charles- Abraham first began making singing birds. Between 1833 and 1837, Bruguier traveled again, this time to the town of Sainte-Suzanne near Montbéliard in France, to work in the Paur music-box factory (which afterwards became the L’Epée factory). This explains the existence of music boxes with the Bruguier signature. It would seem that Charles-Abraham junior, perhaps then already serving his apprenticeship, did not accompany them, for he is not mentioned in the passport application, which says only “destination Montbéliard, with his wife and three daughters”. In 1837, the Bruguier family returned once again to Geneva, living first in the rue du Cendrier 121 bis and moving the following