Leipzig. With terracotta figure of the legendary 'King of Beer', a flagon in one hand, a tankard in the other, on wood barrel housing the coin-activated Symphonion movement, No. 198093, with diametric combs of 84 teeth (complete), spring wound from the underside, hinged drop-down coin compartment and stand, ht. of figure from toe to crown 25 ½ in. (65 cm), barrel 17 ½ in. (46 cm), total with stand 44 in. (112 cm), with later ratchet-winder, figure with some repairs – including right leg and back of the tankard. Good playing condition. – Provenance: This Symphonion "Gambrinus" hung for three generations in the "Gambrinus Gaststätte" near Heilbronn, a three-storey building (originally a bank) purchased by the consignor's maternal grandparents and converted into a restaurant and guest house in 1897. Musical entertainment was provided by a piano, an accordion and the Gambrinus musical box acquired from the Ernst Holzweissig firm for 135 marks. A second terracotta Gambrinus figure was mounted on the front of the building for advertising purposes. The guest house was lived in and run by the owners and their thirteen children and then taken over by one of the daughters (the consignor's mother) after the first world war. From the 1930s to the 1950s the business was known as the "Drei-Mädel-Haus". Even after the acquisition of a jukebox, the Gambrinus musical box had pride of place in the salon where it was played occasionally for special guests. – Accompanying the lot: a framed oil-on-board of the Gambrinus Gaststätte, 29 x 22 ½ in. (74 x 58 cm); copy of a postcard showing the façade in 1915; copy of a press photograph of the consignor's mother with the musical box in 1967; a signed letter of provenance from the consignor. – A rare and historic musical box with excellent provenance!