$1,175
Early Key-wind Musical Box, No. 1823, possibly by Falconet , playing four airs by Balfe, with instant-stop, comb screws without washers and engraved silvered tune-sheet, in polished figured mahogany case with hookless endflap forming key compartment and locked in place (when closed) by a vertical lip on the lid, wd. 13 in., cylinder 7 3/4 in., (one defective track, two broken teeth and one tip broken two-thirds lg. from top). Note: The tunes are: Vive le Roi (Siege de la Rochelle), Thus Together (Id), The Light Hupmann (?) and When I Beheld the (sic) Ancor. The programme draws from Dublin-born Michael Balfe's opera The Siege of La Rochelle , first performed in London in October 1835, from whose second act the ballad "When I Beheld the Anchor Weigh'd" is taken. The style of the case and engraving on the tune-sheet suggest Falconet as a possible maker.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2005-11-03
