Hi MMDers.  The other day I was eating my lunch and trolling
through Robbie's list of music roll brand names at the MMD Media Site,
http://mmd.foxtail.com/MMMedia/brands.html , when I came across the
name Rolla Artis, a brand manufactured by Wurlitzer.  That sounded
familiar, so when I got home I had a look on my roll shelves.  Sure
enough, I have three Rolla Artis piano rolls but they weren't made
by Wurlitzer -- they are European.

These rolls have a fairly nondescript label but have a very striking
design on the leaders.  It's a drawing looking straight up the nostrils
of a rather mad-looking pianist wearing a bow-tie or cravat in very
questionable taste.  It seems to have been drawn from the point of view
of a bug sitting on middle C.

I asked Julian Dyer about these rolls and he has discovered that they
were made by a German company situated in Leipzig.  He has never seen
one, which indicates that they are not common.

I've scanned a roll label along with an upside-down royalty or
copyright stamp printed in Dutch and also have scanned the drawing.
All my three rolls have dark colored leaders and the drawing is printed
in black, so getting a decent scan wasn't easy.  However, I've sent the
scans to Robbie and he will doubtless put them in the appropriate
place.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania.

 [ Watch http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures/  -- Robbie