musical instruments

Rare Orchestrions Up For Auction

Filed under: Auctions

The amazing piece of furniture shown above is a rare orchestrion set to go up for auction on October 7 at Bonhams New York. An orchestrion is a machine that plays music and is design to sound like an orchestra or band. Some of the orchestrions are operated using perforated paper rolls like a player piano.

This orchestrion is from the Mark Yaffe Collection, a total of $4 million of property being sold at the sale. Orchestrions reached the height of their popularity in the early1920s. Also known as nickelodeons because they cost a nickel to play, these machines were once features in bars and restaurants. The piece shown above is a circa 1925 Hupfeld Helios III/39. It has a total of 296 pipes to mimic a variety of instruments including cellos, trombones, drums and mandolin. There is a six-roll changer behind the stained glass. The front has an automaton of a lakeside scene which changes from dawn to dusk using light effects to the sky, lights within the dwellings, trains and windmill, hot air balloon and a Zeppelin flying by complete the illusion. It's a easy to imagine this piece as the height of technological innovation in the Jazz Age, providing plenty of entertainment for cocktail-swilling Deco dolls and dandies. This incredible piece is estimated to sell for $800,000 to $1.2 million. Other pieces in the collection are also estimated to sell deep in the six figures including a circa 1926 Weber Maestro Orchestrion estimated at $500,000-750,000 and a circa 1915 Philipps Paganini Style 3 Orchestrion offered with 300 re-cut rolls estimated at $400,000-600,000.

Tags: antiques, automata, bonhams new york, musical instruments, nickolodeon, orchestrion, orchestrions

Parker Fly Select Koa Ltd. Edition Guitar

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

At $10,000, the Parker Fly Select Koa costs a lot more than your average guitar - but then this one is far from average. The beautifully crafted instrument (above) is limited to only 25 signed and numbered pieces, and is handmade by master luthier Ken Parker from a single piece of Koa, a rare, indigenous hardwood native to Hawaii. The wood is golden brown in color with dark streaks and a lustrous sheen, and the fittings are all gold-plated. Koa, used by the ancient Hawaiians to build dugout canoes, is a "tonewood," with recognized and consistent acoustic qualities prized by musicians. Just the thing for that custom-made crocodile guitar case from Hermès you've been eyeing.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: Guitar, Hawaii, Ken Parker, KenParker, musical instruments, MusicalInstruments, Parker Guitar, ParkerGuitar

Limited Edition Gibson Victorian F-style Mandolin

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Attention mandolin lovers! Gibson has introduced a limited edition Victorian F-style Mandolin and there are only 15 available worldwide. The mandolin features many Victorian Era details, including the back side accented with a Victorian Red Sunburst finish, a "double flower pot" inlay featured on the peghead face (a pattern that hasn't been used since the end of the pre-truss era), an ebony fingerboard, and a period correct black face top, to name just a few. Each of the mandolins comes with a vintage oblong hardshell case and a certificate of authenticity.

Via Mandolin Cafe

Gallery: Limited Edition Gibson Victorian F-style Mandolin