Robot automata band sells for $350,550 at Morphy’s mechanical music auction

Top lot of the sale: Gebroeders Decap dance organ with robot musician figures, Belgium, 1963. One of only three made in 105-key configuration. Purchased by Ozzie Bilotta, who is opening a private antique toy and sci-fi collectibles museum this fall in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Sold for $350,550 against an estimate of $100,000-$200,000

DENVER, Pa. – A trio of robot musicians with a captivating, toe-tapping sound led the parade of mechanical music machines and automata at Morphy’s $2.3 million sale of the Henri Krijnen collection, and according to the buyer, the Space-Age combo’s next stop will be a museum or related attraction in Florida.

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Morphy’s to auction peerless Henri Krijnen mechanical music collection, Sept. 9-10

Mortier 102-key dance organ, Belgium, 1937. A masterpiece of woodcarving with more than 200 pipes and an accordion. Rich, thrilling sound. Size: 26ft x 5ft 4in x 16ft 8in. Previously the property of a British museum. Estimate $250,000-$400,000

DENVER, Pa. – The word “unique” can sometimes be overused, but not in the case of the Henri Krijnen mechanical music collection, which will be auctioned at Morphy’s on September 9-10, 2022, with absentee and Internet live bidding available through LiveAuctioneers. Amassed over a lifetime, the peerless collection of early music and entertainment machines includes grand European fair, dance and theater organs; orchestrions, automata, Frank Polk figurals and other slot machines; and even a spectacular, fully functional Karl Muller antique carousel. As described by CEO Tom Tolworthy, CEO of Morphy Auctions and director/curator of the sale, the collection features “the finest examples of mechanical music machines to come to market in a decade.”

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