Children's toys in the Qing court

A gilded square singing bird music box kept at the Palace Museum. [Photo/dpm.org.cn]

Music box

The gilded square singing bird music box was produced in France. The gilt copper birdcage sits on a wooden base that is carved with floral designs. A couple of little birds with bright-colored feathers are standing on a tree branch in full bloom in a landscape.

It is a technological marvel, with extremely intricate internal movements that produce the incredibly realistic sound of real singing birds, combined with the chirping and fluttering movements of a life-like mechanical bird clad in real feathers. On sliding the operating lever, the full-bodied birds begin singing, butterflies flap their wings as if to fly and the stream babbles among rocks.