One of my best ever Christmas presents as a child was a music box with a ballerina who appeared when I lifted the lid and twirled round and round in her tutu. I wasn’t especially into ballet but there was something completely magical about this good-for-nothing luxury.
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Music boxes have delighted people for centuries and the Victorians loved them. Some are highly collectable today and fetch high prices but I,, for reasons of sheer sentimentality, would specialise in the ballerina box. There are lots to choose from – especially those which doubled as jewellery boxes. Here’s the start of my virtual collection:
Image: http://seveneyesantiques.com/
a 1970’s vintage Japanese box has a definite allure,
as does this Cody ballerina from the 1940s.
This vintage lovely is by the famous Reuge factory in Switzerland, who made some of the best boxes in the world.
This intricate confection is also by Reuge.
I would certainly have a green one in my collection,
and a grand one,
a group dance
and a first dance.
In fact, this could really become an obsession – a 1950s Bols triple Sec ballerina music bottle anybody?
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