It is unusual to find a musical box of this size and type (single-cylinder) on such a base, in which the drawer would normally be designed for the spare cylinders. This drawer was clearly fitted at the outset for other purposes, and the quality and proportions of the musical box case (with the soundboard well above the bottom of the box) all indicate that this unusual arrangement is original.
Under the box is inscribed in pencil Fait a St. Croix Suisse and Alexandre Dupont 1873. The latter was, presumably, the cabinet-maker.