Important Collectors’ Wristwatches, P...

Geneva, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Du Rhône, Nov 12, 2006

LOT 170

?Der Freischütz? M. Bordier, No. 186/19161, Geneva, circa 1840. Very fine tortoiseshell and gold music snuff box playing the overture from ?Der Freischütz? by Carl Maria von Weber. To be sold without reserve

CHF 8,000 - 10,000

EUR 5,000 - 6,500 / USD 6,500 - 8,000

Sold: CHF 22,420

C. Three-body, slightly convex lid with gold lifting lip and gold cartouche, revealing small compartment, gold disc in the front panel to activate the music, base with winding aperture, tune sheet fixed inside the lid. M. 82 x 47 mm, pinned cylinder type with a comb of 82 tuned vibrating blades, playing the tune in two rotations, two-arm fly worm-gear governor Signed three times on the comb in typical Nicole manner. Dim. 101 x 63 x 35 mm. Property of a Swiss Gentleman


LOADING IMAGES
Click to full view
Image
Grading System
Grade: AAA

Excellent
Case: 3

Good
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense

Notes

An interesting box playing a very popular tune on two rotations of the cylinder via a mechanism shifting the cylinder after the first rotation. The opera ?Der Freischtz? was given for the first time in 1821 in Berlin; it was highly acclaimed by such connoisseurs as Beethoven, Berlioz, and Wagner.