The bottom plate is a cast iron depiction of an
Art Nouveau gold-colored mermaid with a long tail.
The horn is made of red and gold painted tin.
The spring motor is equipped with a brake.
Made circa 1905 in France (e.g. at Morel in Paris) or Germany
(e.g. at George Carette & Co. in Nurnberg or Fritz Puppel in
Berlin).
However, most copies are not branded.
This wax roll player was cheaply made and often
presented as a gift when purchasing several wax cylinders. The
phonograph was sold in 2022.
Sound fragment: Edison
cylinder 9066 "Just across the bridge of gold", sung by Byron G. Harlan,
recorded in 1905
Bottom plate with mermaid, with on the left the
holder for the horn, in the middle the spring motor with the
centrifugal regulator above it and on the right the holder for
the wax cylinders.
Picture from a catalogue of Fritz Puppel,
Berlin
Picture from a catalogue of George
Carette & Co in Nurnberg from 1911
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