Gebr. Weber (Waldkirch, Germany)

The Weber Styria is at the top end of the keyboard-style Weber orchestrions. This instrument was originally sold by the large G.J. Gérard agency in Brussels, Belgium. It contains the same instrumentation as the somewhat larger cabinet-style Weber Otero: piano with expression and mandolin attachment, violin and flute pipes with swell shutters, xylophone, drums and traps, playing standard Weber Styria or Otero rolls, with a keyboard and side cabinets for roll storage. This beautiful example was completely restored to the highest professional standards by Mike Argain in 1999, and it includes a nice selection of rolls.

The Weber Orchestrion Factory, as it was called, remained in business into the late 1920s, with sales remaining strong until the end of that decade when the Depression brought a halt to nearly all business. Radio and amplified phonograph music took their toll, but Otto Weber, in an interview with Dave Bowers, said that the mid-1920s were strong. Among the foreign distributors of note were Charriere & Co. of Bulle, Switzerland and G.J. Gerard of Brussels, Belgium, source of the presently-offered Styria. 95x102x35 inches.