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Lot 33
Two Manivelle Musical Automata
Sale 2054 - European Furniture and Decorative Arts
Part I - Lots 1-290
Oct 15, 2024 10:00AM CT
Part II - Lots 291-433
Oct 16, 2024 10:00AM CT
Live / Chicago
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Estimate
$500 - 700
Price Realized
$1,080
Sold prices are inclusive of Buyer’s Premium
Lot Description
Two Manivelle Musical Automata
the first of a pianist and violinist, the figures with bisque heads; the second of two cats standing on a barrel organ.
Height of taller 15 inches.
Property from the Myra and Larry Karp Collection of Musical Boxes and Automata, Seattle, Washington

Note:
Few couples have been as heavily involved in the mechanical music collecting world as Myra and the late Larry Karp. Beginning in the late 1970s, they conquered collecting with a drive and passion that showed itself not only in the high quality of the items they acquired, but in their joint contributions to the collecting community at large.

Myra, a past President of the Musical Box Society International, was the consummate organizer, whether arranging for hundreds to attend the Society’s annual meeting in Seattle (their home town) or a simple Saturday afternoon meeting at their home. Larry, ever the researcher and writer, wrote numerous articles for the Society’s publications in addition to being a longstanding member of the Publications Committee, vetting articles and helping guide the MBSI’s mission to educate its members and the public.

Although they collected together, it was Larry who travelled the most in search of new instruments. He made frequent trips to the UK and Europe where he befriended top dealers and auctioneers. They, in turn, educated him in the many varieties of machines available, but with time searched him out when a particularly good machine became available. This was how he found so many early machines; sectional comb boxes, overture boxes, and clock bases. But value and rarity weren’t his only drive; the unusual, even the humorous, such as the musical carpet sweeper in this auction, were for him a good reason to acquire something.

Part II of the Myra and Larry Karp collection will be offered in Freeman's | Hindman's April 2025 European Furniture and Decorative Arts auction, followed by Part III in our subsequent The Collected Home online-only auction. Many of the items in these two auctions were written about in the MBSI publications, and where possible this is indicated.
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