Mechanical melodies from imaginary cylinders
From tiny snuffbox curiosities to grand salon orchestrions, music boxes came in many forms across their 200-year golden age.
⚙ Petit Swiss Cylinder
Origin: Geneva, 1796
18 teeth • rosewood with brass inlay
⚙ Grand Cartel
Origin: Paris, 1815
36 teeth • mahogany with mother-of-pearl
⚙ Stella Disc
Origin: Leipzig, 1895
72 teeth • walnut with gold leaf
⚙ Polyphon
Origin: Leipzig, 1890
56 teeth • oak with bronze fittings
⚙ Symphonion
Origin: Berlin, 1889
48 teeth • ebony with silver trim
⚙ Singing Bird
Origin: Geneva, 1785
12 teeth • enamel with gilt cage
Cylinder boxes (1796–1890s) used brass cylinders studded with steel pins. Each cylinder was hand-pinned for specific tunes—beautiful but limited. A single cylinder might hold 8 songs.
Disc boxes (1880s–1920s) used interchangeable metal discs with punched projections. You could buy new discs like we buy records today—the first "software" for music hardware!