Van Cleef & Arpels | Fontaine aux oiseaux

Combining animation on demand with a retrograde time display, this creation by Van Cleef & Arpels delivers a truly poetic moment. Imbued with dreams and emotions, this fascinating bird fountain is a collective artwork that naturally elicits wonderment as Nature is set into motion.

This creation offers a double spectacle. On the side of the base, a feather moves progressively along the time scale. Once it reaches 12 o’clock, it returns to its point of departure to repeat its journey for the next half-day.

When activated – up to five times in a row – the automaton comes to life for about a minute, revealing a tender scene. Thanks to the movement of its various elements, the water in the basin starts to ripple, as if in a light breeze. A water lily slowly blooms while a dragonfly rises into the air, beating its wings and slightly whirling about. The birds at the edge of the basin wake, their song ringing out – thanks to an assembly that includes a bellows and a clicking box, imitating chirping and beak sounds respectively. They raise their heads and move their wings to begin their courtship display. As they move closer together, their articulated legs rise one after the other in a strikingly realistic movement. When the scene is finished, the dragonfly returns to its hideaway, the birds take up their original positions, and the water lily gracefully closes.

A collective work
Creating the Fontaine aux Oiseaux automaton called for the excellence of artisans who are accomplished experts in their domains. After designing its first Extraordinary Object, the Fée Ondine automaton presented in 2017, Van Cleef & Arpels has once again collaborated with exceptional workshops, in France and Switzerland, including Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best French Craftsman) and Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (Living Heritage Company). The experience of automaton-maker François Junod, based in Sainte-Croix in Switzerland, has once again been combined with that of lapidaries, jewellers, stone setters, enamellers and cabinet-makers: all these virtuosos have communicated and shared their savoir-faire, pushing back their own limits to bring a poetic story to life.

Breaking down and articulating the movement of the birds, shaping wings and wavelets sufficiently fine and light to be carried along by the movement… The challenges were never-ending, implying a constant process of research, from design through to the final stages of finishing. The Maison is deeply moved to be able to bring these rare and precious skills together, to accomplish new feats. This brand-new Extraordinary Object – which called for over 4,300 hours of work in Van Cleef & Arpels’ workshops and more than 25,200 hours overall – encapsulates a collective human adventure, under the benevolent auspices of the Maison’s emblematic birds.

The birds
Driven by a particularly realistic movement, the birds were designed in yellow gold before being adorned with brightly coloured stones. The male, recognizable for his crest that unfurls during the animation, also stands out for his back incrusted with lapis lazuli, his chest set with a gradation of blue and purple sapphires, emeralds and tsavorite garnets, and his wings punctuated by pear-shaped sapphires. His gaze is depicted by sapphire cabochons set in white gold and surrounded by diamonds. The female is recognizable for her turquoise plumage and her chest adorned with the gentle shades of purple and pink sapphires, mandarin garnets and rubies. Her wings – also punctuated by pear-shaped sapphires – echo these delicate hues. During the animation, she mischievously blinks her purple amethyst-bead eyes, as she moves towards her companion.

Carefully hidden in the base of the object, the mechanism endows the movement of the birds with great fluidity. Subtle details – such as a slight fluttering of the wings, the beat of an eyelid or a raised foot – have been made possible by mechanical expertise of great precision. Each quiver contributes to the magic of the scene, drawing the spectator into a gentle state of contemplation.

The water in the basin
The water in the basin – which provides an enchanting frame for the Fontaine aux Oiseaux automaton – is made up of fifty slices of ornamental stones, which undulate during the animation. A blend of chalcedony and rock crystal, they convey the shifting tones of the wave and its translucent shimmer. They are integrated into the mechanism one-by-one using a system of rails inspired by the Mystery Set technique. Imitating wavelets, their movement is the result of detailed research, which ensured its gentle fluidity. The leaves and flowers of the water lily are fixed using hinges, enabling them to rise flexibly with each undulation of the water.

The dragonfly
Opening the dance for the object’s animation, this piece’s ascent into the air required extensive research. Its body is made up of three sections in white gold, set with diamonds: the head, the thorax – carrying the wings and legs and harboring a miniature mechanism –, and the abdomen mounted on a spring. Its two pairs of wings, each beating at a different rhythm, can be admired from different angles as the creature whirls about. They are adorned with white mother-of-pearl inlaid with fine gold threads and plique-à-jour enamel, presenting subtle gradations of color embellished with delicate iridescence. Diamonds are interposed between the enamel and mother-of-pearl, dazzlingly accentuating the materials’ translucency. The dragonfly’s gaze is represented by two sapphire cabochons, offering a final touch to
this precious creature.

This creation presented a real technical challenge: the difficulty involved both the dimensions of the dragonfly – which had to retain a fluttering quality despite its small size – and the extensive use of such fragile materials as enamel and gold inlaid mother-of-pearl. By observing nature attentively, the brand tried to imitate it as accurately as possible, and depict a real dragonfly as faithfully as we could, both in its appearance and
its movement.

The water lily flowers and leaves
The ethereal petals of the water lily flowers were entirely shaped by hand before being enameled. Because of their generously sized corollas and the risk of deforming the metal in repeated firings, this final stage was particularly delicate. Colouring the enamel called for a specially adapted technique, to create gradations from pastel pink to mauve. Each element was made as light as possible, so as to be animated by the mechanism.

The water lily leaves that punctuate the basin were also the objects of special attention. Each one exhibits cloisonné lacquer work, a blend of gold sculpture and meticulous coloration. The lacquer craftsmanship is carried out entirely by hand using traditional savoir-faire, from mixing the pigments to placing the material on the base, sanding the various layers, and the final polish. Here, it was confronted with a specific challenge: incorporating the veins of the leaves, represented by partitions of yellow gold. The lacquer was worked with an airbrush, with numerous layers applied successively to create subtle variations of green. A final transparent layer called the glacis is applied at the end, completing the color work and adding a touch of brilliance to the ensemble.

The feather
Watching over the time, the delicate feather stands out for the lightness of its slender silhouette, and its association of colours. On sculpted yellow gold, the soft shades of purple sapphires combine with vivid tsavorite garnets and emeralds, in a gradation that recalls the plumage of birds.

The fountain basin
The base of the object, in the form of a basin, is meticulously made up of a wooden chest, its upper portion covered with eggshell marquetry. This technique, known as Rankaku in Japan, was in vogue during the Art Deco era, and is featured on many objects from the 1920s. It calls for highly intricate work, since each element is positioned by hand on the base.

The eggshell technique is complemented by careful work with vegetal lacquer, applied using the traditional Urushi lacquer technique. Vegetal lacquer mainly refers to the exudation of the lacquer tree of South-East Asia: when the bark on the trunk is scratched, a white sap can be collected. To achieve a smooth surface when combined with the eggshell technique, some eight layers of lacquer are required, each one calling for a long drying time and hand-sanding. This final stage is quite complex, since the soft eggshell material can change color in contact with the abrasive.