Mermod Freres Cylinder Music Box: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This music box was made by Mermod Freres in St. Croix, Switzerland, around about 1887. It is a cylinder music box, with 2 tunes. This music box has a one-piece comb with 50 teeth. The cylinder is 2-7/16" long. The music box is activated with a key wound spring.

U. S. Patent #336210, dated February 16, 1886, by Louis Campiche, for improvements in the manufacture of musical boxes.

U. S. Patent #374394, dated December 6, 1887, by Louis Campiche, for improvements in music boxes.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: ca 1887
• maker: Mermod Freres
• Object Name: Music Box
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: metal (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 2 3/4 in x 5 1/4 in x 3 1/4 in; 6.985 cm x 13.335 cm x 8.255 cm
• place made: Switzerland
• ID Number: MI.66.098
• catalog number: 66.098
• accession number: 261566
• catalog number: 66.98
• patent number: 336210
• patent number: 374394
• Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. John White McBurney
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.