A bellows or pair of bellows is a device constructed to furnish a strong blast of air. The simplest type consists of a flexible bag comprising a pair of rigid boards with handles joined by flexible leather sides enclosing an approximately airtight cavity which can be expanded and contracted by operating the handles, and fitted with a valve allowing air to fill the cavity when expanded, and with a tube through which the air is forced out in a stream when the cavity is compressed.It has many applications, in particular blowing on a fire to supply it with air. Reference: Wikipedia.
Below are some examples and price guides of clocks which have bellows in their mechanisms including a Black Forest cuckoo clock.
Bellows inside of a cuckoo clock
French musical automaton fitted with clock, 1870-1900 Made c 1890
This automaton features six colourful animated birds, a waterfall, a tree surrounded by rocks and plants, a pond with three miniature waterbirds, and a clock. The mechanism, including bellows and a flute to reproduce bird calls, is hidden in the base and activated by a key.
While the names of its makers are unknown, it was probably crafted in Paris in the late 1800s, with clock by Japy Frères (Japy Brothers) and automaton by the Bontems family. Blaise Bontems (1814-1881) was renowned for making automata with realistic songs, including those of the nightingale, canary, finch and blackbird.
Reference: Museum of Applied Art and Sciences
An ormolu musical automaton singing bird clock, Moulinié, Bautte & Moynier, Geneva, circa 1820 In the form of a flower-filled ormolu urn, the brightly feathered bird opening its beak, flapping its wings and turning to left and right whilst singing, the conventional movement with bellows, cams with piston whistles; followed by one of two tunes played on a cylinder musical movement with multi-piece comb, the clock with enamel 3-inch dial signed Moulinié, Bautte & Moynier, A Geneve, the bell striking movement with silk suspension and outside count wheel, triggering the bird and musical movements at the hour; to the urn cast with leaves and stylised flowers, ring handles to the sides, the foliate cast foot on an oval base with anthemion mount, on bun feet 48cm. 19in. high
Sold for 30,000 GBP at Sotheby’s in 2018
A good 1930s chrome plated First series Atmos timepiece Atmos, ‘Pendule Perpetuelle’, number 5323 The rectangular case fully glazed, with doors to the front and back, set on a short tapering base cut to the front to accommodate the pendulum-locking lever, the matt silvered chapter ring with black painted stylised Arabic numerals and inner quarter hour track with triangular hour markers and leaf-shaped hands enclosing the shaped frontplate set with blued steel screws, jewelled bearings and the number 5323, the silent movement continuously wound via bellows contained within a bright-plated drum secured by a horizontal bar with an applied label ‘Brevets J.L.Reutter, S.G.D.G.’ and the punched number 6360 driving a roller lever escapement and torsion pendulum mounted with six large and two small timing screws. 23.5cms (9.25ins) high.
Sold for £ 5,062 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2019
A MONUMENTAL EMPIRE ORMOLU AND PATINATED BRONZE MUSICAL ‘SINGING BIRD’ AND AUTOMATON CLOCK THE DIAL SIGNED BY LOUIS-JACQUES VAILLANT, THE CASE ATTRIBUTED TO CLAUDE GALLE, CIRCA 1805 CASE: the body of slender ovoid outline with raised neck and waisted socle above a square section plinth, the scroll handles modelled with snakes and eagles. Applied overall with relief cast foliate ornament and reserves DIAL: the white enamel dial with Roman hours and Arabic quarter minute markers, blued-steel moon hands and signed ‘VAILLANT INVENIT’ MOVEMENT: with two-train eight-day (?) movement with cylinder escapement regulated by a hairspring, countwheel striking to bell on the hour and half hour, the clock movement in turn trips the pipe organ/bird automaton to operate every three hours MUSIC: the pipe organ plays three tunes by rotation on a single drum, the zinc/lead pipes fed by double pump bellows, the movement for the music with substantial plates holding unusual double mainspring barrels with chains hooked onto a single fusee AUTOMATON: the raised neck of the vase with covered aperture containing the ‘singing bird’ (now replaced), the main body with shutters opening to reveal Neptune with trident above a large conch shell overseeing Charon ferrying a mortal across the River Styx to Hades, with rotating glass waterfalls; the lower plinth with arched doors to Vulcan’s forge with figures striking an anvil with steel hammers, trip lever to base, a steel rod to the mechanism operating the bird stamped ‘..RNOVER(?)’ (possibly incomplete, illustrated here) 32 ¼ in. (82 cm.) high; the plinth base 8 ¾ in. (22.2 cm.) square
Sold for USD 845,000 at Christie’s in 2016
Black Forest wood carved tabletop cuckoo clock, 28.4” x 16.5” x 8.5”, made in Germany, c.1900, clock mechanism, bellows and bird exist – not guaranteed to be working properly, wood carved birds, chamois and fox, some repair to carvings, needs cleaning, adjustment and restoration
Sold for $1,150 at The Stein Auction Co. in 2018
