Page 298 - Auction Team Breker | Auction 24+25 May 2018

Very Rare Duplex Musical Clock by E. Flonck, 1898
With 9-inch (23 cm) Roman cartouche dial, two-train movement by Japy Frères et Cie, striking hours and halves on gong, independent eight-air cylinder move- ment with 2 contra-rotating cylinders, 2 combs of 50 teeth each (complete) with spring-adjusted zithers, brass bedplate signed and dated "E. Flonck, Mars 1898", power-reserve indicator calibrated 10-5-0, side- mounted enameled tune-selector dial and tune change/repeat control activated from underside, in carved Black Forest-style walnut case with turned bal- ustrade and pilasters, wd. 16 1⁄2 x ht. 21 1⁄2 in. (42 x 55 cm), cylinders 8 7/8 in. (22,5 cm), with pendulum and two keys. Good original playing condition. – Literature: for a detailed description of Flonck's musical clock, see article by Johan Goyvaerts and Jean-Marc Lebout in "Musiques Mécaniques Vivantes", No. 84, pp. 23–34. – Little is known of E. Flonck and at present only one other example of his work has been identified, an elev- en-air duplex cartel musical box produced in 1899. Flonck was evidently a musician as well as an engineer as he is listed as the composer of the fifth air on the example offered here. – Repertoire: 1. "Johanna Valse", 2. "Mazurka" by Albert (?) Fuchs, 3. "Les Cloches du Monastère" by Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wely, 4. "Romance Comme à Vingt Ans" by Marie-Auguste Mas- sacrié-Durand, 5. "Polka" by Flonck, 6. "La Marseil- laise" by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, 7. "Carmen" by Georges Bizet and 8. "Valse Odon-Quinn" by Albert (?) Fuchs. – Salient technical features of the movement include the impulse push-button stop/start, a governor with variable wing-surface (which decreases to reduce resistance as the spring unwinds), power-reserve indi- cator, tune-selector/changer via a stepped horizontal cam, pinned wheel and steel pawl. – Arthur Ord-Hume attributes the first patent of a "duplex" musical box to Alfred Junod in around 1887, with double-cylinder machines by Charles Paillard, Mermod Frères and Ami Rivenc appearing on the market soon afterwards. All shared similar characteristics. Flonck's design, howev- er, is unique. – Musically and technically a fascinating exhibition piece.
– (2–3/2–3) – € 1.100/1.300 – (900/4)
986: Walzenspieldose von Charles Ullmann, um 1895
€ 180,-
Nr. 1694, mit 12 populären Liedern und Opernmelodien inklusive "Faust Walzer", "Rule Britannia" und "Macot- te", 46 Töne im Stahlkamm (komplett), geprägt mit "Qualité Excelsior", Melodienanzeiger, Melodienblatt mit Händlerbezeichnung von John Manger & Co., schlichtes Gehäuse mit Deckelintarsien, Gehäusebreite 35 cm, Walzenbreite 12,5 cm, funktioniert, Stahlkamm mit leichtem Oberflächenrost.
No. 1694, playing twelve popular and operatic airs, including "Faust Waltz", "Rule Britannia" and "The Mascotte", with 46 teeth in comb (complete), "Qualité Excelsior" stamp, tune-indicator, tune-sheet with John Manger & Co. agent's banner,7plain case and inlaid lid, wd. 14 in. (35 cm), cylinder 4 /8 in. (12,5 cm), working, light surface rust on comb.
Notizen / Notes
Cylinder Musical Box by Charles Ullmann, c. 1895
– (3/3) – € 300/400 – (917/4)