Musical Instruments & Memorabilia
The craftsmanship involved in the most prized musical instruments affects the quality of sound they produce as well as their appearance. For example, string instruments made by the Italian Stradivari family – and particularly Antonio Stradivari – in the 17th and 18th centuries are said to produce a sound that has never been replicated even in similar designs.
Those instruments created by Antonio during his ‘golden period’ (1700-1720) command particularly strong prices. More recent instruments, such as electric guitars played by pop music giants of the 20th century also pull in large prices – such as Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Stratocaster, which was bought for a Seattle museum for $2m.
Musical box tunes up in Kansas
07 March 2022This Regina disc and double comb-operated upright musical box is expected to be one of the highlights when Woody Auction in Kansas offers the collection of David and Marlene Howard from Ohio on March 19.
Touch of luxury from Palais Royale
14 February 2022The Palais Royale built for Cardinal Richelieu in 1629 had a variety of uses over the years but in the 18th and early 19th century was rebuilt as a place for public recreation and social gathering.
Pick of the week: Nicole musical boxes to get your teeth into
13 December 2021François Nicole (b.1766), the Geneva-based pioneer of the key-wind musical box, is thought to have made around 440 boxes during his working life, but only around 60 are known today.
Playtime in the saleroom at Hartleys
22 November 2021Top names in their different fields, ages and markets, Wurlitzer and Armand Marseilles were the star makers at Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium).
Auction record for Rolling Stones poster
04 November 2021A rare concert poster promoting The Rolling Stones’ run at the Windsor R&B club in the early Sixties sold for £30,000 on October 28.
Steel string guitar strikes a cord in Lincolnshire auction
01 November 2021Bought in 1952 by a semi-pro Skegness musician who played with East Coast seaside entertainers, this steel string guitar got a big show of hands at Louth auction house John Taylors (18% buyer’s premium).
Pick of the week: Gramophone hits all the right notes
27 October 2021Emile Berliner (1851-1921), a German clerk in a Washington DC haberdashery, is credited with inventing both the first commercially successful disc record and the first machine to play it.
Sensational Tannoy speaker emerges in a sleeper trio in Dorset
30 August 2021Only a handful of companies have created products with sufficient impact that their brand names become generic descriptions for objects of their type.
Barn find jukebox could be golden oldie
30 August 2021A classic ‘barn find’ piece, this somewhat dilapidated jukebox was spotted as a potential golden oldie at Gardiner Houlgate (22% buyer’s premium).
Piano restorer David Winston’s ‘unique’ collection comes to auction at Dreweatts
18 August 2021Newbury saleroom Dreweatts is to offer an impressive private collection of rare pianos in the autumn.
Piano and stool from 1901 Glasgow Exhibition surfaces at eclectic Ayrshire summer sale
05 July 2021What auctioneer Michael Callan called “a modest mid terrace town house in Irvine, Ayrshire” was the source of one of the star lots of a recent Thomas R Callan (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Ayr.
Music academy promises historical instruments will be kept
31 May 2021The Royal Academy of Music has said it has no plans to sell or dispose of any of its historic instruments after national media reported it was looking into ‘decolonialising’ its collection.
Bureau cabinet rated highly as Mainz ‘masterpiece’ example
31 May 2021Distinctive bureau cabinet form could have been intended for presentation to the guild.
Music box plays a big £27,000 part in auction
10 May 2021John Gresham was a third-generation member of a wealthy Hull timber-importing family.
Galway silver shines in Lewes auction
19 April 2021The West as well as the East made a major contribution to the success of Gorringe’s £1m sale on March 30 where, overall, 86% of the 593 lots sold.
Model 1080 could be a sound investment
12 April 2021In 1935, Swiss designer Paul Fuller, who had emigrated to the US after the First World War, joined the Rudolf Wurlitzer Company as their chief designer.
Collection Focus: Living and laughing out loud
22 March 2021Collector’s daughter describes what it was like to grow up amid huge musical machines
Wurlitzer steams into action
15 March 2021Mechanical music will be going under the hammer on March 20 as part of the Miller & Miller auction in New Hamburg, Ontario.
British musical Leppard spotted in Indiana
15 March 2021Though a Bösendorfer grand piano topped bidding at $42,500 (£31,250) in a January 16 sale, the main attractions for many came from a different source.
Howzat for an intriguing portrait
15 March 2021Young cricket player stars among the varied lots from estate of journalist and author
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