$5,500
Rare Style C Capital Cuff American Musical Box, No. 186, by F.G. Otto & Sons, New Jersey , for 7 1/2-inch lg. tapering cylinders or cuffs, nickel-plated open-work mechanism with coaxial spring, patd. dates to 1889, cast-iron bedplate with cherub and lyre motif, and golden oak case with open cuff-storage compartment and lid print depicting a winter landscape, wd. 26 1/2 in., with six cuffs in original finish. Note: A short history of the Capital Cuff box can be found in Bowers' Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments , pp. 134 - 136. The firm F.G. Otto & Sons was established by Frederick G. Otto in Jersey City in 1875, as manufacturers of surgical instruments and batteries. The design for a self-playing American-made instrument that incorporated attributes of both cylinder and disc musical boxes is credited to Otto's employee, and fellow resident of Jersey City, Henry Langfelder, and the result was the Capital Cuff Box. The patent was filed in February and granted two months later, on 15 May 1894. The Capital Cuff line was intended as a direct competitor for New Jersey's other major musical export, the Regina, its American routes reflected in its large repertoire of popular and patriotic music, solid casework in oak or mahogany, and American eagle emblem emblazoned on the gold-lacquered cuffs.
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2008-08-23
