help to identify a mystery phonograph cabinet

[kirtley2012]

i bought a ediphone shaver mounted in this case advertised as a edison opera, i have since been told it might be a opera, a idella or a ideal (earlier form of the idella) but i still dont know
the corner mouldings have been removed, it looks surprisingly like a idella case except the lower mouldings, the winding handle hole looks like it has the oxidised finish
what is the acctual model of this case and what is the value?
Alex

[estott]

Not an Opera- they didn't have lid latches so no need for slots on the top frame. If it was an Idelia case it would have had handles on the sides. I think what ever it is this case has seen alteration- I don't think the bottom moldings are original, are they even mahogany? I do not think it would have very much value.

[gramophoneshane]

It did have handles the same as those on the Idelia.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... 0&start=10

[kirtley2012]

it did have handles but they were removed, i can see the areas where the handles were and the holes, i am pretty sure the lower mouldings are mahogany, the cabinet was previously refinished so that would explain the colour difference

[kirtley2012]

i have just looked and on the front there seems to be a faint square shape and 2 filled in holes within the square and both the same hight and distance within the square, this points towards there once being a plaque/name plate on the front and one point, did any phonograph have this?
Alex

[gramophoneshane]

Hi Alex,
Any chance you could add a photo of the inside & underside of the cabinet?
Maybe the dimensions of the cabinet & the top frame might help too.
I noticed the rectangle shape on the front when you first posted the picture. I dont recall seeing an American phonograph with a metal plaque screwed to the front, but I suppose it's possible that if it is an Idelia case, whoever refinished it might have removed the ID plaque from the bedplate and attached it to the front for whatever reason. Edisons plaques were roughly the same size afaik, so if that was the case I'd expect the 2 holes to be about 9.5-10cm apart.
To me, the bottom moulding looks like mahogany, but hopefully some additional photos will make things clearer.
I still think it's an Idelia cabinet personally, but whether the moulding is original or not will effect it's value. Even if the moulding isn't original, I think you'd find it is still quite a valuable item to the right collector.
I'm actually surprized a few more people haven't passed on their thoughts about the cabinet as yet. Perhapd a few more photos will spark some more discussion about it.

[kirtley2012]

here are some additional photos, i am leaning towards idella, it has the same upper moldings and handle shapes!

[kirtley2012]

upon more inspection of the cabinet i spotted the only identifying mark, a "0" pressed into the inner section of the hinged top

[WDC]

I just put a ghostly layer of an Edison handle over your photo. The traces left on the case do match. This would tell me, that it is an Edison case. The corner decoration pillars seem to have been removed, this does further obfuscate its origin. And "O" could indeed mean Opera.

[kirtley2012]

well at least we have established it is edison, i think the "0" is a number rather than a letter, perhapse it was a experimental case before he put them onto production, its a long shot but a possibility!
i doubt its opera, the opera didnt have the slots for the lid
this is defintately one of the higher machines in edisons production line, the first thing we can do is to find out what models had the side handles, then narrow down to what ones had the slots for the lid and the pins on the top! then what ones closest match this case!