Vintage music boxes are can prove collectible and valuable, says Sheffield expert

Musical mechanisms were first fitted in Swiss clocks in the 17th Century.

However, the musical box, either powered by clockwork or operated by a handle, came into being in its own right in the 18th Century.

It comprised of a rotating cylinder that produced sound when raised pins plucked a row of steel teeth on a comb-like metal plate.

By the 19th Century, the musical box was firmly established as an affordable form of entertainment and produced in large numbers.

As techniques improved, seven or eight tunes could be set on one cylinder.

The cylinders were housed in wooden boxes, often with plain sides and decoratively inlaid tops.

The better the box, usually the better the mechanism was with more special effects like butterfly bells, cymbals and drums.

Specialist makers like Nicole Freres also add value to a musical box sold in today’s market place.

The problem with the music box was the cylinder could only hold so many pins and thus the number and complexity of the tunes, or ‘airs’, was limited.

A simple, often rather basic model would have less pins in the cylinder and so play fewer and simpler tunes. These are today the lower-value models which can be purchased for less.

A more complicated model with multiple pin tunes together with bells, drums and cymbals, by a maker like Freres, will be at the other end of the money scale.

As a final thought, if contemplating the purchase of one of these beautiful boxes, always view with your ears.