[ Bob Conant wrote in 101029 MMDigest:

> I had hoped someone might post the results here for our education.

Hi Robbie,  In reply to Bob Conant's post on this subject (and your
follow-up footnote which addresses me publicly), I find it very
interesting that having heard all members of the MBSI were briefed
with the results, there was little need to post -- the results on the
Bonhams site is only three clicks away!

However, you have waved a wand, and I include this -- the link which
takes everybody straight to the results page list:

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/WService=wslive_pub/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=eur&screen=catalogue&iSaleNo=18556 

This sale was one of the largest and most important dedicated auctions
of automatic musical instruments.  When an orchestrion does turn up at
an auction, it is invariably interwoven with other pieces of much lower
value, importance and in some cases, in totally generic sales which
include furniture.

At Bonhams, we have dedicated sales of just mechanical music.  And
this was a sale a host of people the world over were looking forward to.
The total of the sale made a record $2.5 million.  The quality and
rarity of the pieces was truly staggering.

I am preparing a sale report, which will appear in the MBSI in the
very near future.  Since the 7 October sale in New York, I have been
preparing the London sale, plus the Knowle sale on the 7 December.  And
then another surprise -- another New York sale to be held in December!

Being a one-man band on the front line in London, it is sometimes very
hard to find time to take lunch, let alone post results; however, I see
that there is a reason for doing so -- even if there is a short delay.

I trust those who need to know, who did not for whatever reason attend
the auction(s), to visit the Bonhams site which is very easy to use
in order to display the auction results.  But I will endeavour to post
the results for the five-odd sales we have a year on MMD.  Galerie de
Chartres and Auction Team Breker are lucky to have a host of staff
working for them.  In the mechanical music department in London, there
is a staff list to the tune of one -- me!

Looking forward to posting after this London sale, and for submitting
to MBSI the report.  There have been a few after-sales since the auction
day, so the total has changed in an upwards direction slightly.

Many thanks,
Laurence Fisher - Senior Specialist, Mechanical Music and Technical
Bonhams
Knightsbridge, London

 [ Thanks for helping to publicize auction results, Laurence.  MMDigest
 [ subscribers depend on our report since many don't receive the printed
 [ journals of the formal societies.  Important data like prices paid
 [ at auction eventually disappears from the web site of the auction
 [ house, so that's why we want to have it permanently available in the
 [ MMD Archives.
 [
 [ The prices paid at public auctions such as you conduct for Bonhams
 [ are by far the best indicator we have of the current market value of
 [ our mechanical music instruments.  -- Editor (Robbie Rhodes)