Ludwig Hupfeld AG (Böhlitz-Ehrenberg, Germany)

Of the various orchestrions that delighted owners and listeners in the early 20th century, the Hupfeld Helios styles were among the most popular and most important. They played Helios rolls, of which many hundreds of different examples were produced, with just about any melody available. Today, owners of Helios instruments usually use and prefer quality re-cuts, as they are more durable. With this model comes a nice library. The community of enthusiasts is easily accessible by communicating with other collectors worldwide on the Mechanical Music Digest (MMD) website or through the sites of the various societies. The new owner will be in good company with other enthusiasts.

Most other Hupfeld Helios orchestrions are very large, as exemplified by the Helios Ic/31 and Helios II/25 in the present sale. Smaller size Helios orchestrions with keyboards are less often seen. Of the four known examples to exist of this type, this is the only one with Lotus Flute pipes—fat scale stopped flutes with tremolo tonally reminiscent of a "pan flute," featured in popular rolls from the late 1920s and early 1930s. The instrumentation also includes a high quality piano with mandolin and automatic expression, violin and cello pipes, orchestra bells and drums with expression. Built in the 1920s, this instrument has all the expected case decoration including double art lamps. Sold new by L. Jacob of Stuttgart, the instrument previously resided in the collections of Siegfried Wendel and Klaus Fischer. It has been restored mechanically and cosmetically by Mechanische Musikwerke Manufaktur in Germany. A seldom-seen piece, this orchestrion provides its new owner with the rare opportunity to have a renowned Hupfeld Helios orchestrion in a much smaller space than one of the large keyboard-less models. It includes over 100 original and re-cut Helios rolls. 63x86x33 inches.