Singing Bird Pistols

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Following a feverish bidding war between two high-end collectors, the above pair of singing bird pistols recently sold at a Christie's auction for the mind-numbing price of $5.8 million. This is apparently the only matched set of these odd antiquities still known to exist, and very few were ever made to begin with.

The craftmanship of these 200+ year old works of art is incredible. Rather than firing bullets, the guns "shoot" a miniature singing bird. I can almost see why someone might be inspired to pay the price of a large mansion with a garage full of Ferraris for these "singing bird pistols". CLICK HERE for an amazing video about these curiosities, their history and operation.

4 comments:

Kelly said...: --those are so cool! :-); September 20, 2011 at 6:44 PM
Lilac Haven said...: Thanks for sharing. Amazing.; September 20, 2011 at 9:20 PM
Nina @Nature Remains said...: Such ingenuity, but I think the winter wren still wins in the longest and best song category!; September 21, 2011 at 7:17 AM
Jim McCormac said...: Yes, incredible pieces! Had I only known of the auction in time, maybe I could have bid 5 million!; September 21, 2011 at 9:45 AM

About the photos, and permission to use

Unless specifically noted, all photos used on this blog are by Jim McCormac, and are my property. If you are interested in the use of any of these photos, please contact me at jimmccormac35 AT gmail DOT com. I am generally fine with loaning photos for educational or non-commercial uses, but please ask! It is a bit disconcerting - and annoying - to see one's photos appear without credit elsewhere on the Internet.

Most of the recent photos on this blog were made with a Canon 5D Mark III. At present, I use three lenses with the Canon: a 100 mm macro L-series; a 17-40mm wide-angle L-series; and a Sigma 150-500. Many older photos used on this blog were shot with a Panasonic FZ50, which is a high-end point and shoot and an awesome camera. That model has been discontinued. I still love my Panasonic and will use it until it gives up the ghost. Other photos were taken with a Nikon D7000,or a Canon T3i. I also have a Nikon Coolpix P510 point & shoot, which is a remarkably versatile camera with awesome zoom power (42x) that holds up very well. Finally, I've got a GoPro Hero, which is fully waterproof and can be used for underwater work. Sometimes I even use the camera or video feature on my Droid X smartphone - it's amazing how good phone cameras have become.

Ohio Birds and Biodiversity

Tuesday, September 20, 2011