Lot Essay
The organ is activated from the clock every six hours, or can be started manually at any time.
The Kaufmann family's involvement with automatic musical instruments began with Johann Gottfried Kaufmann (d. 1818). He started the business in Dresden early in the 19th century, and it was continued by his son Frederick and grandson Frederick Theodore, the latter born in 1823. They devised a series of self-playing instruments and automata, culminating in the Orchestrion which was demonstrated at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and reported at length by the Illustrated London News.
Inside the case of the present organ is a label stating "Herr Kaufmann & Son beg to inform the nobility and gentry that their newly invented self playing musical instruments (patronised by Royalty) will be executed at their establishment in Dresden (Saxony). Many of these instruments are already in the possession of the highest nobles and of families in Germany, Russia and France". From this wording, it could be inferred that the label pre-dates the firm's British tour of 1851, and the music on the barrels indicates a date no earlier than 1830.
The Kaufmann family's involvement with automatic musical instruments began with Johann Gottfried Kaufmann (d. 1818). He started the business in Dresden early in the 19th century, and it was continued by his son Frederick and grandson Frederick Theodore, the latter born in 1823. They devised a series of self-playing instruments and automata, culminating in the Orchestrion which was demonstrated at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851 and reported at length by the Illustrated London News.
Inside the case of the present organ is a label stating "Herr Kaufmann & Son beg to inform the nobility and gentry that their newly invented self playing musical instruments (patronised by Royalty) will be executed at their establishment in Dresden (Saxony). Many of these instruments are already in the possession of the highest nobles and of families in Germany, Russia and France". From this wording, it could be inferred that the label pre-dates the firm's British tour of 1851, and the music on the barrels indicates a date no earlier than 1830.