A Cascade II gramophone

This lot must be cleared by 2.00 p.m. on the Monda… Read more

Details

A Cascade II gramophone
by W.J.Bond & Sons, Harlesden, with long papier-mâché horn emerging from the side of the stained beech cabinet, Expert four-spring soundbox on swan-neck tone-arm, later three-speed electric turntable, removable frieze panel, storage cupboard below, pedestal support for horn and accessories including speed tester, fibre needles and cutter, thorn sharpener and Wilson alignment protractor -- the cabinet 39in. (99cm.) high, the horn projecting 65¼ (166cm.) x 28¾in. (73cm.) diam.

Special notice

This lot must be cleared by 2.00 p.m. on the Monday following the sale. If it is not cleared, it will be removed to the warehouse of:- Cadogan Tate Ltd., Fine Art Services Cadogan House, 2 Relay Road London W12 7JS Telephone: (020) 8735 3700 Facsimile: (020) 8735 3701 Lots will be available for collection following transfer to Cadogan Tate, every week-day from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. An initial transfer and administration charge of £18.50 and a storage charge of £3.20 per lot per day will be payable to Cadogan Tate. These charges are subject to VAT and an insurance surcharge. No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The Cascade was the cheapest of the three papier-mâché horned gramophones of the early 1930s, and also in one sense the purest, in that the horn incorporates no bends. In the Cascade I, this inconvenient but acoustically ideal shape was disguised in a sideboard, but the II (and, even more so the III, with its 9-foot horn) must surely be the ultimate proof that fitness for purpose does not necessarily go hand in hand with beauty.

More from Mechanical Music and Technical Apparatus

View All

View All