Auction Team Breker – Mechanical Music, Science & Tech, Photographica & Film Auction
23 March 2024
www.Breker.com
Otto-Hahn-Str. 10, 50997 Koeln (Godorf)/Germany

KÖLN, GERMANY — The focus is on photography at Auction Team Breker’s Spring sale on March 23. Highlights of a fine single-owner camera collection include a rare Leica IC “Luxus” from 1931. Inspired by the success of the Leica I in 1925, the Luxus was Ernst Leitz’s first foray into the elite market of limited editions. The gold-plated models were produced under the codename “Lelux” on special order only, with a special finish and a lizard skin covering instead of the customary vulcanized rubber.
Researchers suggest that only 95 units were produced between 1929 and 1931, and only eight in the final year of production. The example under the hammer comes with an intriguing inscription, possibly by the original owner: “v. Rotter Haage, Riga.”
Where the Luxus was a camera to see and to be seen with, the Nikon I by Nippon Kogaku of Japan possessed a quieter style. With streamlined chrome body and the sleek styling that was to become a company hallmark, the first mass-produced camera of the Nikon range carries the stamp “Made in Occupied Japan” on the baseplate and has a retractable Nikkor H.C 2/5 cm lens.
Another landmark camera in the auction is an original Lunar Hasselblad. Another Hsselblad camera, which has a black-painted body and matching Carl Zeis Planar 2.8 / 80mm lens, was one of the experimental models built at Hasselblad to meet NASA specifications in 1957.
The prewar German optical industry was based in Wetzlar and Jena. In Leipzig, 120km to the north of Jena, was the powerhouse of the mechanical music industry. During the final decade of the Nineteenth Century, companies like the Polyphon and Symphonionwerke of Leipzig produced disc-playing musical boxes to compete with their cylindrical Swiss cousins. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, the instruments became ever larger and more complex.
Founded by Ludwig Hupfeld in 1882, the Hupfeld Musikinstrumentenwerke built pianolas and other self-playing instruments. After the Mills Novelty Company of Chicago brought out its first mechanical violin, Hupfeld raised the stakes with an automatic instrument that played three violins. A Hupfeld Helios I/22 Orchestra, made by Hupfeld in Leipzig, circa 1910, features a piano, violin and cello pipes, 10-note orchestra bells, xylophone, mandolin and drums and carries an estimate of $27,5/38,500.
The Phonolist Violina was the jewel in the Hupfeld crown. Measuring more than 6½ feet in height, in a carved oak case with a piano beneath and stringed accompaniment above, this mechanical musician boasted the capacity of a human duet. The notes of the piano and the stops and steps of the violin are controlled by programmed paper rolls, the only limitation to the complexity is the length of the paper.
The auction also boats a selection of rare American writing machines, including the “grasshopper-action” Jackson of 1898 and the Dart Marking Machine by Fairfield of Connecticut.
Where Leipzig excelled at large mechanical instruments for public spaces, Paris concentrated on smaller, intimate pieces for the private salon. The years from 1848 to 1914 became known as the golden age of automata. The elegant, humorous, sometimes macabre, moving figures produced in the Marais district of Paris were exported across the world.
One of the biggest stars of the sale is “Claude the Clown” from the workshop of Gustave Vichy. Perched jauntily on the edge of a miniature barrel, his eyes darting from side to side and his foot tapping in time to the music, Claude has a unique articulated nose that mimics the folds and the movements of the accordion. With his lopsided grin and mockingly raised eyebrows, he possesses one of the most remarkable faces in the Vichy oeuvre. “Claude the Clown,” circa 1890, is estimated at $19,8/$27,500.
Auction Team Breker is at Otto-Hahn-Strasse 10. For information, auction@breker.com or www.breker.com.

Fotal Miniature Camera in red Estimate: 7.000-9.000€ / $7,700-9,900
De Locht’s Pantelephone Module Journaux, c. 1880 Estimate: 2.500-3.500€ / $2,750-3,850
Lunar Hasselblad Estimate: 12.000-18.000€ / $ 13,200-19,800
Hupfeld Atlantic Barrel Orchestrion, c. 1900 Estimate: 1,800-2,500€ / $1,980-2,750
Gebriider Bruder Fairground Barrel Organ, c. 1925 Estimate: 8.000-10.000€ / $8,800-11,000
Williams White Water Pinball, 1982 Estimate: 3.000-5.000€/ $3,300-5,500
Hupfeld Phonoliszt Violina Model A Estimate: 400.000-500.000€ / $440,000-550,000
Hupfeld Helios 1/22 Estimate: 25.000-35.000 € / $27,500-38,500
“Claude the Clown” Musical Automaton by Gustave Vichy, c. 1890 Estimate: 18.000-25.000€ / $19,800-27,500
Victorian Book and Letter Scale, c. 1880 Estimate: 2.000-3.000€/ $2,200-3,300
Leica Ic Luxus Gold no. 48442 Estimate: 18.000-24.000€/ $19,800-26,400
“Mercedes/Gauss” Calculator, 1905 Estimate: 12.000-15.000€/ $13,200-16,500
Zeiss Ikon Contax Rifle with 2.8/18 cm and 8/50 cm Estimate: 30.000-40.000€ / $33,000-44,000
Rare Ford Typewriter, 1895 Estimate: 16.000-22.000€/ $17,600-24,200
Leitz Noctilux 1.2/50 mm with sun shade Estimate: 8.000-12.000 € / $8,800-13,200
Consignments are welcome at any time!
For more information and large colour photographs of some more of the upcoming Highlights please visit our website at: www.Breker.com/ New Highlights and youtube.com/auctionteambreker
Fully-illustrated bilingual (English/German) COLOUR Catalogue available against prepayment only: Euro 28 – (Europe) or elsewhere Euro 39- (approx. USS 45.-/ Overseas)
P. O. Box 50 11 19, 50971 Koeln/Germany • Tel.: +49 / 2236 / 38 43 40 • Fax: +49 / 2236 / 38 43 430
Otto-Hahn-Str. 10, 50997 Koeln (Godorf)/Germany
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