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It seems to have an air of originality about it ?

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... eedc88baef

I saw that and was mildly fascinated too. I think it's probably someone's fantasy piece cobbled together many years ago. It looks as though part of a trumpet has been mated to part of an internal horn inside the cabinet.

I also saw this and think it has a certain appeal. Put together by an amateur using a scientific instrument box, something like a sextant. It probably doesn’t sound much worse than many portable machines of the late 1920s/1930s. However it doesn’t look like 12 inch records would fit.

The builder of this machine was probably inspired by the very rare German machine from the 1910s, or the Pathé Jeunesse, both with the exposed metal horn bells in the front. The speed control of this one in the photos seems to be from a Columbia portable.

Even the auctioneers should know, that is a teak case and not a mahogany one!

Steve wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2026 5:45 am Even the auctioneers should know, that is a teak case and not a mahogany one!

Your expectations are too high, Steve, at least they identified the machine as a gramophone and not a vinyl player.

CarlosV wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2026 11:05 am

Steve wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2026 5:45 am Even the auctioneers should know, that is a teak case and not a mahogany one!

Your expectations are too high, Steve, at least they identified the machine as a gramophone and not a vinyl player.

Very true, Carlos!

CarlosV wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2026 11:05 am

Steve wrote: Fri Mar 13, 2026 5:45 am Even the auctioneers should know, that is a teak case and not a mahogany one!

Your expectations are too high, Steve, at least they identified the machine as a gramophone and not a vinyl player.

Very well put Carlos ! Your comment brought a smile to my face !

Quite interesting, but my thought was a re-purposed teak box maybe? Why protect the corners with brass reinforcements, but then have a thinplate horn sticking out?

Idea not 100% original

or could the horn be detachable for separate storage / transport?