Gramophone with horn and wind-up handle
Gramophone with horn and wind-up handle
Hayes, Middlesex
Circa 1908
The Gramophone Company, Ltd
Wood, steel, brass, copper, cloth, mica; mechanical work, carpentry, painting, nickel plating
30 x 36.5 x 36 cm, horn – 78 x Ø65 cm.
On the tonearm: “GRAMOPHONE / TRADE MARK”, image of the trademark “Writing Angel”.
The gramophone is mounted in a rectangular polished tabletop case made of mahogany. Three sides of the case are adorned with copper-plated silver plaques featuring relief images of battling ancient Greek warriors. The vertical edges are decorated with fluted pilasters. The case is topped with a hinged lid. In the center of the lid, serving as the support panel, there is a support disk for the gramophone record, covered with green cloth. The disk, with a diameter of 30.5 cm, is driven by a spring motor with a centrifugal governor, secured on the inner side of the lid. On the right side of the case, there is an opening for the winding handle with a metal overlay. In the front right corner of the panel is the speed control for the disk, marked with a round graduated scale. In the far right corner is a cylindrical spring brake for the disk with a leather pad. In the front left corner is a round celluloid badge with the name and trademark of the hardware and tools dealer "Robert Kents/Moscow." A cast bracket for the tonearm is bolted to the back wall of the case. The top of the bracket is shaped like a clamp with a ring, in which the tonearm support assembly is mounted. The conical tubular tonearm is movably secured from below in the hub of the assembly, to which a horn is attached from above. The narrow end of the tonearm is finished with a transverse sleeve, where a U-shaped pipe with a soundbox rotates. In the center of the mica diaphragm fixed in the soundbox, a lever for the needle holder is glued. The needle is secured with a screw in the needle holder. Behind the diaphragm are the model and manufacturer’s name of the soundbox. The straight conical stamped horn with a curvilinear profile is decorated with longitudinal relief ribs and ovals along the edge. The horn is painted with a matte burgundy color. The narrow end of the horn is fixed in a corner metal pipe. The bracket, tonearm, and pipe have a protective galvanic nickel coating. The set includes the horn and the winding handle.
Инв.443.1-3/УВЗ