Music boxes by Henriot

Henriot musical boxes are typical top-class made-in-Geneva movements recognized mainly by their characteristic embossed tune sheets.

Spielwerke / movements

11435, 11544, 11829, 12368, 12513, 12741

They are all earlier than about 1850, keywound, with brass bedplates, and mostly in plain cases. Details were given in my previous book, and a table listing 21 boxes with Serial Nos. from 10463 to 15505 is in TMB Vol. 13, page 231. But this is such a small sample that we can only guess wether they are typical of HenriotĀ“s output.

It is also strange that there are no numbers below 10,000.
The most significant box in the table mentioned above is Serial No. 15116. It has all the Henriot characteristics, including its serial number in the usual small figures running up the left side of the bedplate and the typical embossed tune sheet. However, the bedplate is stamped, in the standard location of the back left hand corner, „BADEL A GENEVE“.

[Maker or agent?] Failure to be listed by Chapuis is strong evidence against Henriot being a maker. There was a time when a name stamped on a bedplate was assumed to be the makerĀ“s name, but it is now thoroughly proven that this was just as likely to be the name of the agent or retailer. If Henriot has been accepted as a maker purely on this doubtful evidene, the probably Henriot boxes (as I expect we shall call them!) are really Badels. I hope more evidence will come to light; in particular a search for the real identity of Henriot in the Geneva archives from 1830 to 1850 would probably provide the vital clue. (Bulleid: Cylinder Musical Box Technology, 1994, p. 18-19)



Nr. 11829


Remnant of a tune sheet


43 cm wide


Nr. 11544


Bellamy, Tune sheets, Fig-21-3n (1839)


Nr. 11435


Bellamy, Tune sheets, Fig-21-3A (1838)


Nr. 12368


Nr. 12513


Nr. 12741