Beschreibung:

Lot of 5 photographs of musical glass performers, including two cabinet cards featuring members of the Till Family Rock Band, one of which shows members playing musical glasses, the other of which shows members posing, with rock harmonicon and musical glasses in the background, both credited on mount and verso to Naegeli, NY, with "Till Family" stamps on verso; cabinet card of man playing musical glasses with mallets as bells hang above and various other instruments litter the floor in front of a tablecloth featuring initials, "G B," credited on mount to E. O. Coffin; cabinet card of man and young woman playing musical glasses, with banner reading, "Musical Glasses" hanging down from the table in front of them, credited on mount to Leary, St. Mary's, Ontario; and CDV featuring a man (identified by a sign below as "M. O'Reardon") sitting at a piano next to a table full of musical glasses, credited on verso to Watson, Raleigh, NC. The Till family hailed from Keswick in the English Lake District, as did the stones used to make their most famous instrument, the rock harmonica, or stone xylophone. Known as a very different kind of "rock band," the Till family entertained audiences around Victorian-era Britain before leaving in the late 1880s to tour the United States and Canada. Deciding to stay in North America, the family settled in Bayonne, NJ (both stamps on the Till family cabinet cards in this lot advertise Bayonne as the family's location) for five years. During their time in North America, it is estimated that the family gave over one thousand concerts, entertaining audiences in a variety of ways, with the rock harmonica, zither, alpine horn, swinging harp, musical glasses, vocals, and other instruments as well. Notably, the family also enjoyed a friendship with Thomas Edison, and gave numerous performances at the Chautauqua Institution. Source: "The Original Rock Band" by Bradley Strauchen-Scherer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Steve Roden Collection: Music in Vernacular Photographs Lots 269 - 279 represent a selection of images from the Steve Roden Collection of photographs related to music, sound, and listening, many of which are illustrated in the book,...i listen to the wind that obliterates my traces: music in vernacular photographs, 1880-1955, published by Steve Roden, 2011. Provenance: Steve Roden Collection: Music in Vernacular Photographs Condition: Photographs in varying conditions. CDV with toning, soiling, and discoloration to image and mount; E. O. Coffin card with spotting and discoloration throughout; one Naegeli card with some surface abrasions to image including a few small spots of paper loss.