7 Oct 2010
13:00 EDT
New York
Magnificent Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata
Back to auction 18556
Magnificent Mechanical Musical Instruments and Automata
Back to auction 18556
A 'Mandoline-Organocléide et Zither' cylinder music box, by B. A. Bremond,
Circa 1877,
No. 16656,
playing six patriotic, sacred and dance airs, with large single-spring motor, hooked-tip mandoline teeth in groups of up to six across the three-section comb, full-length zither attachment with brass select lever and fine-string lyre boss shield, on reeded cast gilt bedplate, in ebonised interior under glass dust-lid and pierced spandrels, the original eight-ribbon column Bremond tunesheet against figured walnut veneered ground inside the lid, in finely toned, figured and polished walnut veneered case, the lid having very slight dome profile, full butterfly cut veneers to top, front and all sides, carrying kingwood crossbanded border with tulipwood stringing, polished brass bedplate washers, ormolu drop carrying handles to sides, moulded ebonised edge and plinth base -
31in. Wide, the cylinder 17.1/4in, the diameter 3in.
No. 16656,
playing six patriotic, sacred and dance airs, with large single-spring motor, hooked-tip mandoline teeth in groups of up to six across the three-section comb, full-length zither attachment with brass select lever and fine-string lyre boss shield, on reeded cast gilt bedplate, in ebonised interior under glass dust-lid and pierced spandrels, the original eight-ribbon column Bremond tunesheet against figured walnut veneered ground inside the lid, in finely toned, figured and polished walnut veneered case, the lid having very slight dome profile, full butterfly cut veneers to top, front and all sides, carrying kingwood crossbanded border with tulipwood stringing, polished brass bedplate washers, ormolu drop carrying handles to sides, moulded ebonised edge and plinth base -
31in. Wide, the cylinder 17.1/4in, the diameter 3in.
Estimate:
US$ 12,000 - 18,000
£7,900 - 12,000
€9,300 - 14,000
£7,900 - 12,000
€9,300 - 14,000
Footnotes
- Footnote:
The organocléide movement uses teeth on the comb which resonate for a longer time. This extended vibration is concentrated on the bass to mid-range, and thereafter by the mandolin section with the same note repeated over six grouped teeth. While this type of movement has a genuine technical reason for the title to be included on the tunesheet, some boxes produced towards the very end of the 19th century were incorrectly titled with names which made them sound better before anyone had heard them play. For marketing reasons, the agents who sold them were the real winners.
It is only now, more than a century after they were made, when concerted appreciation of how sound works in these different types of movements is beginning to be fully understood. With the modern computer-made pieces from Switzerland all the way back to the very first sur-plateau snuff boxes; the organocléide has certainly earned its place as being one of the more subtle tonal-expression boxes produced and is an important part of the mechanical music story.
Category: Collectibles / Collectors General
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