I am seeking help to identify a very ornate gilt silver & jeweled music
box in the shape of a street organ.  See this eBay link for photos:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-French-German-Music-Box-Cigarette-Holder-/201713829057?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=BTojxoG9h%252Bwi4mkOvIB1bzpwtFs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc 

What I can tell you, and what I suspect are:

- Definitely designed as a decorative cigarette and match holder.
- Cigarette holding compartment pops up when lid is opened.
- Compartment is about the size of a soft pack of cigarettes.
- Music winds via ornate key on the back.

- Music on/off is controlled by lever/crank on the side above the
  cart's handles.

- It is superbly and intricately well made with each of the panels
being held in place by 4-6 screws with rosette heads located in the
corners and middle edges of the panels.

- All panels are either soldered together or held with machined screws
and/or threaded rods.

- Each of the jewels (and most of the pearls) are in a circular cup
like settings on top of a brass rod that was then fed through the gilt
silver/bronze filigree and the cobalt blue enameling, and then soldered
in place with the rest of the brass rod simply bent over.

- The Gilt Filigree pieces are separate free floating pinned (as
mentioned above)through the embossed enamel by way of the stems behind
the pearl and jewel settings.

 - I'm not sure, but it may be Gilt Silver. (The underlying material is
silvery in color and non-magnetic so I think it is silver vs. bronze).

- The jewels appear to be semi-precious stones vs. glass.  The red/ruby
stones are deep reddish purple (garnet?).  The green stones are
translucent and a bit cloudy. (Emeralds would be nice but more likely
they're chrysoprase or aventurine.)

- I think the pearls may be real (probably cultured) as they don't feel
smooth like plastic and they are fairly uniform in size (3 mm).

- There are no makers marks or country of origin stamped on any of the
parts I took apart last night.  The only markings are on the inner side
of the right push cart handle [ 519 - A239 lll. lV. ] with an
over-score above each of the two Roman numerals (see photos).

- The musical mechanism and tune sticker found inside are of a 1.18
Reuge "Kaiserwalzer"; based on its construction, appearance and the art
work on the tune sticker, I'd guess it is circa 1970-1986).

- Based on the tune selection, and its ornate general appearance, I'm
guessing it could be German, French, Austrian, Hungarian or perhaps
Russian.

- The iridescent cobalt blue enameling is excellent and the gold inlay
swans (on laid or embossed) and other decorations are highly detailed
and precise for their size.

- The gold filigree, often layered one on top of the other, is quite
delicate and ornate (far more so than the nest of most bird boxes I've
seen).

Any help or insight you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Don Caine - Music Box Repair Center Unltd.
tel.: 1-310-534-1557
mbrcu@aol.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]