8/88 Paillard, Vaucher et Fils Mandoline Zither cartel circa 1884
This box is for sale. Contact me if interested

The finished Box after re-polishing

Bought at auction in March 2022. ​The serial no. 1824 suggests that this box was made around 1884.
Unfortunately the Tune Sheet is missing but with PVF Patent engraved on the zither we can be confident of the maker.
​It may therefore be possible to produce a replica tune sheet once the tunes have been identified.
​The tunes are high quality and recognisable (see below).

See it in the workshop

The Music Box Restorer tells me that the zither and the control labels would have been silvered when new, but I quite like them in brass.

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The Tunes

If you identify any of the tunes below, I would be grateful for an email from you with any information you can give.
​To listen to the tune, click the start button. 
These recording were done after the restoration work.

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Tune 01

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Tune 02​ - Pizzicato Waltz by Strauss
The Pizzicato Polka is a piece of orchestral music by Johann Strauss II. Strauss composed it with his brother Josef in 1869 for a trip to Imperial Russia. It was published in 1870. The polka was written for string orchestra and glockenspiel. It was hugely popular, especially in Italy, where it was included on every program Strauss played there. The piece consists of four melodies and the work is arranged in ternary form (A-B-A). The piece is scored for plucked strings.

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Tune 03

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Tune 04

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Tune 05​ - Annen Polka by Strauss
Annen-Polka, Op. 137 (not to be confused with his son's Annen-Polka, Op. 117, 1852)

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Tune 06​

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Tune 07 ​- The Carnival of Venice by Paganini 
The "Carnival of Venice" is based on a Neapolitan folk tune called "O Mamma, Mamma Cara" and popularised by violinist and composer Niccolo Paganini, who wrote twenty variations on the original tune. He titled it "Il Carnevale Di Venezia," Op. 10. In 1829, he wrote to a friend, "The variations I've composed on the graceful Neapolitan ditty, 'O Mamma, Mamma Cara,' outshine everything. I can't describe it."

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Tune 8