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Lot 69
EXTREMELY RARE MIRROR-LID TYPE 23 TELEVISOR TELEVISION RECEIVER, BY BAIRD TELEVISION LTD.
21 September 2015, 13:00 EDT
New YorkUS$20,000 - US$30,000
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EXTREMELY RARE MIRROR-LID TYPE 23 TELEVISOR TELEVISION RECEIVER, BY BAIRD TELEVISION LTD.
C. 1936, serial no 39, with 15" screen circular Cathovisor CRT, black mask with rectangular outer surround, behind safety glass, polished mahogany baffle board, image on reflection from full lid interior mirror plate, in tall mahogany veneered console cabinet with butterfly-cut veneers revealing lighter core to center seams on side and front planes, moulded edge lid with rounded corners. Front with twin column handles — the right opening to access picture and sound controls, the left is fixed to match appearance when closed, on/off toggle switch with concave metal faceplate inset to left-side of cabinet. The back with two cloth-fielded panels for access to CRT and full chassis layout, with the EHT generator within fully enclosed metal case, control mounting chassis numbered A01433, almost all components and vacuum tubes from the manufacturing date, Rola speaker with the matching transformer, the back cabinet strut bearing the two Baird manufacturing plates in brown painted metal for this set, each stamped with set type and serial number. 25" wide, 43" high and 20" deep overall.
THE LOWEST SERIAL-NUMBERED PRE-1940 ELECTRONIC TELEVISION RECEIVER YET DISCOVERED. One of the rarest and most desired treasures of pre-1940 television sets. The T-5 and T-22/23 had the most interesting features technically, both with large screen diameters and a very stable vision strip, helped by the use of a separate chassis mounted away from the EHT transformer in order to try and eliminate RF interference. Almost all the components are from manufacturing date to include all major LT and HT wax condensers, with just a very small number on the vision strip being 1950s aluminium cased types. All wiring is correct with cloth covered VR cable used including the main aerial-in feed and the rubber EHT lead which goes into the base of the CRT through the center of the connection boss. Very little work has been undertaken on this set and it looks as though it left Britain many years ago where it has been in this "time capsule" condition ever since.
The electronic standard line scanning in 1936 was between two systems - the short-lived Baird 240-line and the later commercially successful Marconi-EMI 405 line system, with both being broadcast from London's Alexandra Palace regularly from the end of November 1936. Baird Ltd were designing these sets from mid 1936 in preparation of the few experimental transmissions before the official November start. Exceedingly expensive, the average set cost in excess of £100 pounds (half the price of the average house).
Of the few hundred pre-1940 televisions made and sold in Britain at the time, only a very small handful have survived. This is one of the best preserved and most complete T-series Baird sets that has come to light. The condition is outstanding, with even the back cloth-panels and mirror untouched. There is every chance this set will run again after concise and sensible work in professional hands. Amateurs should be aware this set carries lethal voltages when switched on, with the mains-derived EHT feeding the CRT field delivering over 5000 volts, so this highly specialist work requires a great degree of care.
This museum-quality example is a historical landmark in the history of early television, bearing the name of the first successful pioneer who demonstrated the first live moving pictures, the Scotsman, John Logie Baird.
THE LOWEST SERIAL-NUMBERED PRE-1940 ELECTRONIC TELEVISION RECEIVER YET DISCOVERED. One of the rarest and most desired treasures of pre-1940 television sets. The T-5 and T-22/23 had the most interesting features technically, both with large screen diameters and a very stable vision strip, helped by the use of a separate chassis mounted away from the EHT transformer in order to try and eliminate RF interference. Almost all the components are from manufacturing date to include all major LT and HT wax condensers, with just a very small number on the vision strip being 1950s aluminium cased types. All wiring is correct with cloth covered VR cable used including the main aerial-in feed and the rubber EHT lead which goes into the base of the CRT through the center of the connection boss. Very little work has been undertaken on this set and it looks as though it left Britain many years ago where it has been in this "time capsule" condition ever since.
The electronic standard line scanning in 1936 was between two systems - the short-lived Baird 240-line and the later commercially successful Marconi-EMI 405 line system, with both being broadcast from London's Alexandra Palace regularly from the end of November 1936. Baird Ltd were designing these sets from mid 1936 in preparation of the few experimental transmissions before the official November start. Exceedingly expensive, the average set cost in excess of £100 pounds (half the price of the average house).
Of the few hundred pre-1940 televisions made and sold in Britain at the time, only a very small handful have survived. This is one of the best preserved and most complete T-series Baird sets that has come to light. The condition is outstanding, with even the back cloth-panels and mirror untouched. There is every chance this set will run again after concise and sensible work in professional hands. Amateurs should be aware this set carries lethal voltages when switched on, with the mains-derived EHT feeding the CRT field delivering over 5000 volts, so this highly specialist work requires a great degree of care.
This museum-quality example is a historical landmark in the history of early television, bearing the name of the first successful pioneer who demonstrated the first live moving pictures, the Scotsman, John Logie Baird.