A musical box is a device for the
mechanical production of music via the plucking of a series of tuned steel “teeth”.
The teeth are plucked by one of two methods. The earliest movements, incorporated
into watches and other items, often used a mechanism with a rotating disc that
had pins stuck in it to pluck the teeth. The first stand-alone movements used
cylinders wherein the teeth are plucked by being brought into direct contact
with a program of short steel pins arranged in the surface of a slowly rotating
metal cylinder or barrel. Later, the disk musical box used an exchangeable
flat disc punched with projections to pluck the teeth instead of the pinned
cylinder.
In 1796, a Swiss watchmaker named
Antoine Favre invented the method for making music by plucking teeth. Early
on, these tiny movements were part of some other work, such as a watch, gold
vinaigrette or even a seal and these are extremely rare today. By about 1820,
the musical movements began to be placed in boxes so that they became solo instruments
in their own right. The Swiss, centered in Geneva, dominated the cylinder box
industry. It was basically a cottage industry with teeth made in one house,
cylinders in another, music arranged and pinned in other houses, etc.
In 1885, a German industrialist,
Paul Lochmann, invented the disc musical box. This was a major breakthrough
since an unlimited number of tunes could be played on a single instrument.
The Germans dominated the industry up to World War I and basically put the Swiss
out of business. An interesting historical note is that a German named Brachhausen
spun out of the German firm of Polyphon and set up shop in Rahway, NJ as the
Regina Music Box Company. Later, when the musical box industry collapsed at
the advent of World War I, Regina diversified into vacuum cleaners, which are
still made today.
Our musical box collection contains
some very early pieces as well as a variety of interesting cylinder and disc
boxes. The collection is described below, roughly in date order.
Early Pieces—1796-1820
Vinaigrette:
One of the earliest people to put a musical movement into a piece was
Henri Capt. We are fortunate to have a gold, musical vinaigrette ca 1810
in our collection. This was only 14 years after the first documented
use of a musical movement. In the early 1800’s, people bathed infrequently.
Thus, when going to a party, one would bring a vinaigrette with the sponge
filled with vinegar. It would be passed around to whiff so that the senses
were dulled! Gold vinaigrettes are extremely rare and only a few musical
ones are known. Ours is an extremely small 18 Kt. gold and enamel Vinaigrette
in its original red leather outer case. The 18 Kt. Gold case is covered
all over with crisp engine turning and there is a small oval enamel medallion
of a baby lamb on the cover. Original gold screws fasten the box together.
The music is on a Barrilet movement with six stacked blued teeth. The
whole is in mint condition and is reputed to be the smallest musical vinaigrette
ever discovered. It is stamped C & J in an oval cartouche. Inside
the vinaigrette is the original sponge.
Gold snuffbox:
Another rare piece is a gold snuffbox ca 1815. This is the year that
various artisans began migrating from the villages to Geneva. The 18
Kt. gold musical snuffbox by Piguet & Meylan has an engine turned
body and the edges are engraved with floral decorations. The musical
movement is of the Sur-Plateau type with 19 teeth on each side of the
pinned disk. It produces exceptionally fine music and orchestration.
It is fully signed with the Piguet & Meylan punch mark, a signature
on the movement and the number 295. Note that each tooth is affixed with
a single screw. It wasn’t until much later that the “comb”, containing
many teeth in a single block, came about.
Over the next 40 years, the cylinder
musical box evolved into a marvelous stand-alone instrument. The two major
evolutions were in the making of the teeth and the method of winding. Initially,
teeth were individually tuned and screwed in place. Later they were produced
in groups of two and then up to five. In about 1814, Francois Lecoultre invented
the one-piece comb consisting of a large number of teeth all in a row. However,
sectional combs were still produced until about 1840. In our collection, we
have two musical Necessaires with sectional combs. The winding mechanisms on
musical boxes began with key-wind boxes and then about 1860, lever-wind boxes
were introduced. We have an example of an early key-wind box in our collection.
Necessaire: As noted
earlier, musical movements were placed in a variety of things in the early
days. One popular class was the Necessaire. These boxes contained all
the items required for personal hygiene including combs, perfume bottles,
needles and thread, eyecups, etc. In our collection are two necessaries.
The first is in a relatively plain case and it contains a sectional comb
with three teeth per section. The plain case and small comb indicates
that it is a fairly early box. We would estimate its date at about 1825-1830.
The cylinder is capable of playing two different tunes that are selected
by moving a lever that increments the cylinder slightly against the pins.
The music in this Necessaire is exceptional.
Necessaire du Voyage:
The second Necessaire is a Necessaire du Voyage and it has an expanded
set of implements made of silver and tortoise shell. It is a rare and
elegant box that contains everything a person would need for an extended
voyage. The Necessaire is made to resemble a square piano. Among its
unusual instruments are a tortoise shell tongue scraper and a little scoop
that is used for scraping wax out of the ear; the wax was used to stiffen
thread so that it was easier to put through the eye of a needle. Two
tunes may be selected and the comb is a sectional comb with five teeth
per section. That would date the box ca 1835.
F. Nicole Box:
As the stand-alone musical box industry began to develop, numerous manufacturers
jumped in. F. Nicole was among the most prestigious of all of the manufacturers
and was noted for his particularly high quality boxes with marvelous musical
arrangements. His descendents carried on the tradition under the Nicole
Frers mark…Frers meaning brothers. In our collection is an early key-wind
F. Nicole musical box playing four tunes on a one-piece comb. The case
is plain as were most of the early boxes. F. Nicole died in 1849 and
this box, serial number 14242, is ca 1835 or, perhaps earlier.
Lecoultre Snuffbox:
Another unique small box is a tortoise shell and silver snuffbox made
by D. Lecoultre. This man developed the concept of placing a cylinder
next to a row of teeth on combs…the fundamental structure of the cylinder
musical box for decades to come. The snuffbox comb is stamped with the
D. Lecoultre name and it plays two tunes with its one-piece comb but it
may be earlier; tortoise shell boxes are indicative of early boxes.
Black
Composition Snuffbox:
From 1840-1880, snuffboxes were made from a black composition material.
While it might be tempting to assume that this indicated a cheaper box,
such was not the case and many of the boxes contained very fine mechanisms.
Our box has a picture of Napoleon riding a horse on the front and it plays
4 beautiful airs. Tortoise shell covers the mechanism. Because Napoleon
died in 1821 and because of the tortoise shell comb covering, this may be
an early box. However, the fact that it plays 4 tunes may indicate a somewhat
later box. We date it ca 1850 at this time but will research the tunes
to see if we can more precisely date the box.
click to enlarge
Later Years--1860-1900
These 40 years saw the peak of the
cylinder musical box industry. In 1875, Palliard founded the first factory
dedicated to the production of musical boxes. Also, in these years, a large
variety of boxes were produced. The pianoforte box created quite a stir since
it played with expression or loud and soft tones. This was accomplished by
having two combs with identical teeth; when one tooth was plucked, the box played
softly and when two identical teeth were plucked it played more loudly. Also,
multiple comb boxes produced sublime harmony and mandolin sounds and cylinders
with thousands of pins played full overtures. The limitations of cylinder boxes
to play only a few tunes were addressed by putting more tunes on each cylinder;
however, each tune had to be less musically complex and interesting. Also,
interchangeable cylinder boxes came about but these were quite expensive. Towards
the end of the period, manufacturers placed bells, drums, and automata in the
boxes in a “features” race. In our collection we have five unusual pieces.
L’Epee Box: While the
Swiss were dominate in the musical box trade, the French also entered
the market through a firm called L’Epee. Unfortunately, the firm got
into a copyright fight in 1861 and it wasn’t until 1866 that it was resolved
in favor of the company. In the meantime, L’Epee almost went out of business.
This makes a L’Epee box unusual. The box in our collection is rare for
an additional reason. It plays Chinese music and is one of only three
or four known to play music of this type. The box is ca 1885 and it plays
four tunes.
Quatuor Box:
The Quatuor box is so named because it contains four separate combs.
The first two play sublime harmony and the next one to the right plays
the melody. The last comb plays a piccolo countermelody. The descriptive
name for the box is Quatuor Expressive Piccolo. We purchased the box
from Denis Margot in Switzerland. The box plays eight marvelous classical
tunes from operas. The cylinder is very long, 17-1/2 inches, and has
thousands of pins. We have seen only one other Quatuor box. It is probably
a Palliard box and is ca 1885.
Station Box: As people
waited for trains in railroad stations, they sought entertainment. Thus,
the station box was born as a coin operated musical instrument with dancing
dolls. Most station boxes were simply made. However, the one in our
collection is rare in that it has four interchangeable cylinders, each
playing four tunes, indicating that it was a very upscale instrument.
We bought it in Bern, Switzerland where it was in a hotel lobby. It accepts
a Swiss franc but a dime does just as well. The box is a favorite with
our grandkids. It is probably a Palliard box and is ca 1890.
Bee and Butterfly Box:
This box is a fun box playing 12 tunes on a large cylinder. The box has
two Mandarins that strike bells and turn their heads towards the particular
bell they are striking. Also, in the box are four other bells that are
struck with bee and butterfly strikers. The box is very musical. It
may be a Bremond and is ca 1890. It was purchased from the Lost Street
Museum in London.
Mandarin Box: This
box contains three Mandarins that strike bells. It is probably a Bremond
and is ca 1890. It was purchased from the Lost Street Museum in London.
Drum
Box: This box has
a beautiful inlay design of an elephant. Inside the box is an Arabian or
Indian looking person sitting in front of a kettledrum. As the cylinder
plays, he beats the drum. The drum does not, in fact, play. However, under
the bedplate is a real drum that beats when the cylinder rotates. This
may also be a Bremond, ca 1890, and was purchased from the Lost Street Museum
in London. This musical box is out for restoration.
Disc Music Boxes 1890-1914
In 1885, the first disc box, called
a Symphonion, came on the market but serious production did not come about until
three years later. This box was a revolution because the metal discs could
be stamped out inexpensively and the customer could now have an almost limitless
supply of music. About this time, the Polyphon firm was established in Germany
and later, several employees went to the US and founded Regina. The end of
the era of the musical box came when World War I began and when many new entertainment
devices, such as the Edison Phonograph, were introduced to the market. We have
two disc boxes in our collection.
Regina Autochanger:
This marvelous instrument contains 12 discs and a mechanism to play them
in sequence. The discs are 15-3/4 inches wide and the instrument is coin-operated.
When a coin is inserted, the mechanism picks up a disc from its holder,
raises it to the comb and begins the playing sequence. After playing,
the disc is lowered to its resting position. All of this is done strictly
mechanically, without electricity. The autochanger was the forerunner
of the jukebox and the CD changer. Our instrument was made in 1904 and
it was the first piece that we purchased when we first became interested
in collecting.
Rookwood Regina: Regina
manufactured a limited edition, Style 40, console model musical box with
beautiful paintings on the cabinet. Approximately 300 of the Rookwood
edition were made in the early 1900's. The serial number on the bedplate
is 4000196 indicating that the mechanism was made in 1901. Regina made
the mechanisms well in advance of their installation in shipped models.
The earliest Style 40 was shipped in 1902. Our Regina has the desirable
double comb arrangement. It was purchased in 2001.
Polyphon Bell Box:
This box is unusual in that it contains 12 bells in addition to the disc
playing mechanism. While not extremely rare, we have seen very few of
these boxes and the music we have with the box makes it a favorite of
ours. The discs are 11-3/4 inches in diameter. The box is ca 1905.
