100(ish) year old music box

[walker]

Hi all.  Ive recently inherited a music box that belonged to my grandmother.  Unfortunately I was unable to discuss its origin before she passed away and now I have little to no info on the piece.

First off a link to an imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/EBvoS#0
The box is about 19in x 12in and about 9in tall

The pictures of the mechanics are not the best and I can take more if it will help but Ive been lead to believe that the important bit (for id purposes) is the song sheet.  It has three bells that have bumblebee strikers, a small snare drum, and a six song cylinder.  Both the drum and the bells can be disengaged by levers under the glass.

Ive been able to track down 2 of the "airs" and they are both from the 1880s.

It still plays and with the exception of a cracked drum head seems to be in fine working order.

Any information at all in either the form of info on the box or help in locating an expert would be most appreciated.

[greenacres]

Is their a manufacturer name on it anywhere?

[walker]

Is their a manufacturer name on it anywhere?

No unfortunately not.  From what I've been able to find online it's not at all uncommon for music boxes of that vintage to not have any makers marks or manufacturers names. This allowed retailers to sell them as their own.

[greenacres]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Swiss-Cylinder-Roll-Music-Box-8-Airs-Songs-Drums-Bells-Rosewwod-Runs-/200884677036?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ec5a8e9ac

This seems to be the same mechanism inside. Of course your box is beautiful.

[greenacres]

http://www.rauantiques.com/item/Swiss-Cylinder-Music-Box.29-4825.html?sort=score+desc%2CPrice+desc&facet.query=Price%3A%5B0+TO+5000%5D&start=0&q=*%3A*&fq=PRI_CAT%3AWEB.ANTIQUES.MUSIC_BOXES&activeNav=antiques&rows=99999&follownutch=no

[mart]

 Couldn`t read the insert with yours !! Could only see one pic and couldn`t enlarge it !!  Those sites don`t work for some of us !! Can you post your pics here ??

[walker]

Couldn`t read the insert with yours !! Could only see one pic and couldn`t enlarge it !!  Those sites don`t work for some of us !! Can you post your pics here ??

Sure. 

[greenacres]

Make sure you make them smaller or the pictures won't upload. mart, it's quiet w/o bigwull, lol

[ghopper1924]

1880s sounds right, thanks to your research. The music box was probably made in Switzerland, where most of these were made. The case looks like rosewood with satinwood inlay and some ebonized (NOT ebony, but ebonized wood) trim. I don't know what kind of impact that broken drum head will have on value, but if it can be fixed, do it.   If that were repaired in a historically sensitive manner, this would probably be worth $500-$1K, depending on how the finish on the case cleans up and how good it sounds overall.

Nice piece! If you do a little restoration it could remain as a beautiful and functional family heirloom for another 125 years!

[Ipcress]

Hi all.  Ive recently inherited a music box that belonged to my grandmother.  Unfortunately I was unable to discuss its origin before she passed away and now I have little to no info on the piece.

First off a link to an imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/EBvoS#0
The box is about 19in x 12in and about 9in tall

The pictures of the mechanics are not the best and I can take more if it will help but Ive been lead to believe that the important bit (for id purposes) is the song sheet.  It has three bells that have bumblebee strikers, a small snare drum, and a six song cylinder.  Both the drum and the bells can be disengaged by levers under the glass.

Ive been able to track down 2 of the "airs" and they are both from the 1880s.

It still plays and with the exception of a cracked drum head seems to be in fine working order.

Any information at all in either the form of info on the box or help in locating an expert would be most appreciated.

Looks like a drum and bells music box.

Have the teeth on the comb been damaged ? Any chance of an image of the mechanism with the glass up / out the way ?

You may not immediately see a name but it could be on the mechanism - looking down on it, check the corners and brass surfaces. There may be a serial number.


Once found one of these supposedly unnamed and it was a Nicole Freres, one of the most sought after makers.

Could be anything from £300 to four figures.

[walker]

Thanks for the info so far.  You folks rock!


The teeth on the drum seem to be in good to great condition.  I dont see where its missing any teeth or where any are bent or damaged to the point that they dont strike the comb.

Ill get some more pictures with the glass out of the way this evening when I get home from work.  Anything in particular you want to see or just general images?

[ghopper1924]

I think Ipcress and I more or less covered it. Looks like we agree on value. It's true that a Freres music box has a higher value, but a buyer would want a label of some sort before they'll pay the big bucks.

[Ipcress]

Thanks for the info so far.  You folks rock!


The teeth on the drum seem to be in good to great condition.  I dont see where its missing any teeth or where any are bent or damaged to the point that they dont strike the comb.

Ill get some more pictures with the glass out of the way this evening when I get home from work.  Anything in particular you want to see or just general images?

Just a nice one of the whole mechanism from a slight angle from above.


I agree with GHopper and this only having three bells etc would suggest low to mid hundreds ( pounds sterling ) but there may be a mark somewhere, near the cylinder or next to the comb

You may also want to contact the MBSI here  info2010@mbsi.org as someone may recognise it and they can even recognise the tune cards -  yours is colourful and in excellent condition. They are often torn.

[mart]

There were quite a few of these made !!  Saw several with the insert & similar case !!  Those with 6 or 8 songs usually run between $300. and $500. in my area !!

[Ipcress]

There were tens of thousands of these made and the vast majority have that style case.