19th Century Swiss Eight Air Rosewood Cylinder Box

View Similar Items

Antique 19th Century Swiss Rosewood Music Box

Antique Swiss 8 Air Gonçalo Alves Musical Box 19th Century

19th Century Rosewood Toiletry Box

19th Century Rosewood Games Box

19th Century Rosewood Writing Box

Swiss 19th Century Dry Measure Pantry Box

19th Century Rosewood Dressing/Jewellery Box

French 19th Century Rosewood Writing Box

19th Century, Rosewood & Brass Scent Box

19th Century Anglo Indian Rosewood Box

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 10

19th Century Swiss Eight Air Rosewood Cylinder Box

About the Item

This is a lovely antique Swiss 8 airs rosewood cylinder music box, manufactured by Ducommun Girod, circa 1880. The rosewood case is inlaid and crossbanded with kingwood & boxwood, and there are lovely marquetry decorations of musical instruments on the lid. The music box has got its original tune sheet which is stamped: No 3376 Fabrique de Geneve. The music box plays the following tunes: 1. Quadrille No 1 Barbe Bleue - Offenbach 2. Riding on the Donkey - Connelly 3. Quadrille No 2 The Reception Dancers - Barret 4. Polka Miriam - Kitz 5. The Comet of the West - Bachelder 6. Lucie de Lammermoor - Toi par qui - Donizetti 7. Walking in the ... A. Lee 8. Valse Dreams of Childhood - Montgomery Condition: It has been beautifully restored and serviced and is in excellent perfect working order. Dimensions in cm: Height 14 x Width 49 x Depth 19 Dimensions in inches: Height 5 inches x Width 1 foot, 7 inches x Depth 7 inches Music box (also musical box) is a 19th/20th century automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth (or lamellae) of a steel comb. They were developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and called carillons à musique. Some of the more complex boxes also have a tiny drum and/or small bells, in addition to the metal comb. For most of the 19th century, the bulk of music box production was concentrated in Switzerland, building upon a strong watchmaking tradition. The first music box factory was opened there in 1815 by Jérémie Recordon and Samuel Junod. There were also a few manufacturers in Bohemia and Germany. By the end of the 19th century, some of the European makers had opened factories in the United States. The cylinders were normally made of metal and powered by a spring. In some of the costlier models, the cylinders could be removed to change melodies, thanks to an invention by Paillard in 1862, which was perfected by Metert of Geneva in 1879.[citation needed] In some exceptional models, there were four springs, to provide continuous play for up to three hours. Rosewood - is a rich warm reddish brown wood that has a distinct grain with dark brown and black outlining. One variety of Rosewood can vary significantly from another even though it is of the same species. These Rosewoods, native of India, South East Asia and Brazil, were dense and awkward to work with. It was renowned for quickly bluntening cutting tools and visibly darkening in colour when over prepared. The Brazilian species of Rosewood was by far the most beautifully figured and therefore it became the most sought after and rare. This was the wood of choice for the great box makers, David and Thomas Edwards who used it to veneer some of their finest pieces.

Dimensions:
Height: 5.52 in (14 cm)Width: 19.3 in (49 cm)Depth: 7.49 in (19 cm)
Materials and Techniques:
Boxwood,Kingwood,Rosewood
Place of Origin:
Switzerland
Period:
Late 19th Century
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 058501stDibs: LU95062709172