Sublime Harmonie Plérodiénique Made by Paullard-Vaucher et Fils, Sainte-Croix, Switzerland c. 1882-1884 The Murtogh D. Guinness Collection Morris Museum

A highlight of the Murtogh D. Guinness Collection during its namesake’s lifetime, this elegant musical box was built by Paillard-Vaucher et Fils of Sainte-Croix, Switzerland. It is housed in an ebonized case and conforming table inlaid with brass scrollwork, mother-of-pearl, ivory, and edge moldings of gilt brass. The table actually serves as a writing desk, with a pullout escritoire in the center; side drawers hold the interchangeable music cylinders.

This piece combines two of the most revolutionary musical box designs in history. Sublime Harmonie refers to a musical effect that relies on the slight dissonance created when two notes of ostensibly the same pitch are sounded, thus producing a richer and fuller sound. Plerodienique is a complex system that permits lengthy music selections to be played without interruption. Mr. Guinness’s favorite selection on this box was a five-minute rendition of Weber’s “Invitation to the Dance.”

In the 1970s, when Murtogh Guinness removed the beveled mirror on the inside of the lid to have it re-silvered, he discovered London journals dated 1880 that served as backing material. This simple discovery reinforced the theory that some Paillard movements were originally exported “bare” from the maker in Switzerland to the Paillard-Vaucher et Fils showrooms in London, where English cabinetmakers mounted them in custom-made cases. (In this instance, the cabinetmakers of the 1880s had apparently just grabbed the most handy paper material to keep the mirror and lid from rattling against each other.)

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