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| Murtogh D. Guinness |
Born
in London in 1913 into a prominent Anglo-Irish brewing family, Murtogh
D. Guinness became interested in mechanical musical instruments and
automata when he was only six years old. On a visit to Paris, his
mother took him to Breguet, a shop that sold clocks, watches, and
related items. She bought him a pop-up mechanical singing bird that
he picked out himself—an event that marked the start of a lifelong
passion.
It was not until some 20 years later, though, that Guinness began
collecting mechanical musical instruments and automata in earnest.
By the time he settled in New York City—where he bought twin
townhouses to accommodate his collections—he had gathered
together music boxes, fairground organs, orchestrions featuring
pianos, cymbals and bells, and more from all over the world. Visitors
to his home recall a virtual wonderland of what one guest described
as “conjurors, illusionists, acrobats... a fantastic collection
of mechanical pieces.”
Those who remember Murtogh D. Guinness, however, recall not just
his collections but his great hospitality. Over the years he had
amassed not just a stellar group of objects, but an enthusiastic
circle of friends who shared his passion for mechanical musical
instruments and automata. As the Morris Museum displays and interprets
his collection, it will not only fulfill its mission as a “teaching
museum,” but will satisfy Guinness’s wish of having
the public enjoy the collection in its entirety just as much as he did.
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