Rare Mandoline Expression Revolver Musical Box by Ami Rivenc

Rare Mandoline Expression Revolver Musical Box by Ami Rivenc, No. 1485, with four cylinders playing six airs each by Bellini, Verdi, Rossini, Offenbach and others, mandoline teeth in groups of up to five, lever-change mechanism, a second lever riding parallel to the great wheel preventing the carousel from rotating when the movement is playing, the governor-cock stamped with Brunswick lion trademark, in figured rosewood veneered case with red interior, ormolu carrying handles, and tune-sheet headed Musique Revolver, 4 Cylindres Expression Mandoline , the front and lid with tulipwood crossbanding, boxwood and harewood inlay flanking floral motif in ebony cartouche, wd. 30, cylinders 13 in. Provenance: October 1996, Sotheby's London, Lot 466. Note: The tunes are: Cylinder 1: "William Tell", "Ernani", "Beatrice (Di Fenda Fantasie)" played in two parts, "Czarina Polka", "Cuire de Russie (Russian Leather)". Cylinder 2: "Norma Casta Diva" in two parts, "William Tell", "Cloches du Momnastere (Monastery Bells)", "Martha", "Grande Duchesse Waltz". Cylinder 3: "Home Sweet Home", "La Norma", "Lied des Czars (Song of the Czars)", "Il Trovatore", "Le Barbier de Seville", "Garnier de Fleurs". Cylinder 4: "Il Baccio", a polka composed [sic] by Faust, "Stadt & Land" (Town and Country), "Flick & Flock", "Emma", and a Scottish air "Chateau des Fleurs (Castle of Flowers)". The invention of the revolver mechanism (so named because it shared the same tec Read more…