$5,036
Timbres en Vue Cylinder Musical Box with American Tune, No. 88607 on the flat-top winding lever, playing eight lively airs including Leben und Lieben , La Traviata , Rigoletto , "Star Spangled Banner," and "Up in a Balloon," accompanied by nine optional engine-turned bells with finials and gilt bird strikers, with diamond-shaped tune-sheet, in rosewood-veneered case with inlaid motifs of a classical profile motif on the front and pair of pelicans flanking an ebony crest on the lid, wd. 22 1/2, cylinder 13 in., (some worm damage underside lower edge on front). Note: A bell box of characteristic Bremond design, the program features the unusual addition of a patriotic American tune, possibly by request from the original owner. The heraldic pelicans on the lid may be a reference to the Louisiana state seal which features a "pelican in her piety," originally a mediaeval allusion to the bird's sacrifice of her own blood to feed her young, as seen on the flag of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. A comparable musical box by the same maker that included the Civil War tune "Stonewall Jackson" was sold at Skinner, Science & Technology , August 23, 2008, lot 870. Movement in good playing condition, having been overhauled by the Musical Wonder House in Wiscasset, Maine, in 2006. Case retains its original finish.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2009-07-25
