2/82 note Rzebitschek - Seriel no. 24588; Gamme no. 2091
Bought at auction in Prague - June 2025
A rare mechanical music box, serial No. 24588, made by the renowned Czech maker Franz Rzebitschek in Prague around 1854.
The mechanism plays two tunes, including the famous Radetzký March by Johann Strauss the Elder composed in 1848.
The movement has been cleaned and restored.
The case has been repaired, cleaned and waxed to preserve the patina.
Unfortunately this process has lost the feint transfer image in the centre so I'm thinking of cleaning it up some more.
This type of mechanism was mainly used in clocks but, as on this occasion, some were housed in crude wooden boxes.
Instead of the usual side levers the mechanism is started by a pull-cord. It stops at the end of each tune unless the cord is kept taught.
There is a change/repeat selector, but this requires the removal of the mechanism from the case in order to loosen and tighten the screw so it is set for repeat only.
See it in the workshop
A rare mechanical music box, serial No. 24588, made by the renowned Czech maker Franz Rzebitschek in Prague around 1854.
The mechanism plays two tunes, including the famous Radetzký March by Johann Strauss the Elder composed in 1848.
The movement has been cleaned and restored.
The case has been repaired, cleaned and waxed to preserve the patina.
Unfortunately this process has lost the feint transfer image in the centre so I'm thinking of cleaning it up some more.
This type of mechanism was mainly used in clocks but, as on this occasion, some were housed in crude wooden boxes.
Instead of the usual side levers the mechanism is started by a pull-cord. It stops at the end of each tune unless the cord is kept taught.
There is a change/repeat selector, but this requires the removal of the mechanism from the case in order to loosen and tighten the screw so it is set for repeat only.
See it in the workshop
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Do you recognise this tune?
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Radetzký March by Johann Strauss the Elder (1848)
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