The sale’s highest price of $3,510 was achieved by this example of The Criterion music box by J. M. Paillard, New York. Its oak case measured 11½ inches high by 22½ inches wide by 20½ inches deep and it rested atop a 34-inch-tall oak stand that housed 66 Criterion discs ($2,5/4,500).
Review by Carly Timpson
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. — Session three of the Arthur J. Dell, Jr, collection was auctioned by Schillaci & Shultis (Two Feathers Antiques & Auctions Services) on December 6. This installment featured mechanical, musical and Christmas items, and, according to Ed Schillaci, all 397 lots sold.
An exceptional example of The Criterion — a disc music box by J. M. Paillard, New York, in an ornately-carved quarter-sawn oak case, topped the sale’s offerings. The music box was matched with a 34-inch carved oak stand that housed 66 Criterion discs. In functional condition having its likely original crank, the piece was played to $3,510.
Other musical items in the sale included phonographs, music boxes, singing automatons, musical bells, graphophones, organs and organettes, among others. Making $2,625 was a circa 1995 street organ, colloquially referred to as a “monkey organ,” by the Organ Grinder Music Company, Inc (OGM). Paired with a pushcart, the model was like one would see “at fairs and carnivals and in Europe, on the streets entertaining shoppers…they were occasionally used by the familiar organ grinders with their monkeys,” according to a note paired with the lot. This example had 41 keys, 64 pipes (23 piccolos, 23 flutes, 18 brass) and played from an electronic module with air pressure supplied by hand-cranking.
This circa 1995 Organ Grinder Music Company “monkey” street organ, 27¾ inches tall by 28 inches wide by 16¾ inches deep, was on a 17-by-35-inch cart and was played to $2,625 ($650-$1,100).
An oak-cased Victor V phonograph, made before 1909, sang for $1,638. The phonograph had a matching oak spear-tip horn and was in working condition with its crank. On a period oak cabinet stand, the example sold with the assorted records housed within. Cased in mahogany, an antique Regina music box with 25 12-inch discs spun to $1,375, while a late Nineteenth Century French double singing brass birdcage automaton was claimed for just $936.
The session’s second-highest price, $2,875, was achieved by a circa 1910 Reeco Ericsson System by the Rider-Ericsson Engine Company. This hot air engine, which had a 26-inch flywheel with a 6-inch bore, was mounted on a dolly system with wheels and stored on a 6-by-12-foot Hammer Blow Corporation trailer, SAE Class 4. In addition, the trailer was outfitted with boxes to store wood for the engine. Another Reeco Ericsson — having a 28½-inch flywheel with an 8-inch interior bore — was on an iron base frame for a total height of 66 inches and weight of approximately 1,200 pounds. The size of this hot air pumping system did not deter bidders who pushed it past its $2,200 high estimate to $2,625.
Another major collecting category featured in the auction was fans — particularly hot air-powered and early eletric models. The leading lot was a circa 1905 Jost’s Patent Radio Fan manufactured by Hubertus Raab (Saxony, Germany) and distributed by the firm of Carl Jost (Bombay, India). This hot air fan had a twin cylinder and was in beautifully restored condition, according to the auction catalog. It sold to an online buyer for $2,125.
Blowing to $2,125 was this circa 1905 Jost’s Patent Radio Fan, 38 inches high with a cage diameter of 17 inches, manufactured by Hubertus Raab and distributed by the firm of Carl Jost ($1/2,000).
Achieving $1,875 was a Lake Breeze hot air fan by William J. H. Strong, Chicago. The fan had a Stirling-type heat-driven motor and, as the catalog noted, “This type of hot air fan was marketed to well-to-do residents of rural areas, which did not yet have electricity.” However, these examples are rather rare since electricity was made more widely available soon after their manufacture.
Christmas items were capped by a General Electric Mazda Christmas Tree Lamps store display. The easel-backed sign had its original electrical cord and lamps arranged in a circle around its central image of a child peering into a Christmas tree. Beneath the image, other lamp examples and replacement options were displayed. The lights were hung by an internet buyer who paid $938, nearly double its high estimate.
The firm will continue to disperse items from the Dell collection through 2026. Future sales to be announced. For information, 518-766-3865 or 518-463-8542.
