Climbing a steep set of stairs of this former Shikumen, we explore this half-shop, half-museum (the only place in China) dedicated to these musical marvels.
Tiantian Wang (王天天), left, and Xinyu Chen (陈鑫雨) try out some of the store’s music boxes.
“Modern society is too busy, too complicated,” says Sky Music Box owner Leo Zhang (张杰). “It’s the simple things that really move people.”
Every music box has a story, said Zhang. If looked after properly, they can keep working forever without the quality of music diminishing. Music boxes are often given as gifts, continued Zhang, but there is something about the simplicity and music of these boxes that profoundly moves both the giver and the receiver.
Zhang recounts the story of a man who missed his flight back to Dalian waiting for the store to open so that he could buy a music box produced on the exact date his daughter was born. Zhang keeps a large book filled with comments from customers, pouring out their feelings about the store. One girl writes that she would marry any man who bought her a specific music box.
One Saturday morning, Tiantian Wang (王天天) and Xinyu Chen (陈鑫雨), both 18, quietly walked around the store, listening to and watching in awe all the different boxes inside the little shop. Both the girls said they were given music boxes as gifts when they were children and would love to return the favor to others now that they are old enough to give gifts themselves.
Ningpeng Wen (温宁芃) left, and Chun Hu (胡醇) look at music boxes in the store.
Ningpeng Wen, 16, and her friend Chen Hu, 17, held music boxes up to their ears and took pictures of themselves with the shop’s giant toy soldiers during their weekend visit to Shanghai, but the two girl’s weren’t interested in buying anything.
“The boxes are too expensive for us to buy,” said Hu. “I am just here to look. The quality of the music is beautiful and the accuracy is so good.”
This behavior is not frowned down upon by the store. While the year-old-store needs to remain economically viable, Zhang said the main aim is to showcase the beauty of music boxes. Not all the boxes in the shop are for sale. Speaking of one of his favorite pieces, Zhang said, “If I sell it only one person can enjoy it, but if I keep it in the shop many people can see it.”
In his home, Zhang has several hundred music boxes, but he feels the shop is not a safe enough place to keep the most antique and valuable boxes. He said he hopes that the shop can expand in the future so that more people are able to discover the pure sound of simple music and the timeless beauty of the music box.
After the interview, we asked Zhang to introduce some of his favorite music boxes in the store.
The Gramophone
This music box is made of wood and metal. According to Zhang, wood is the ideal material of a music box housing because the quality of the music is better when it comes from within a wooden case. The music box does not use batteries but instead is wound via the small handle on the top of the case. As the music plays, the gramophone’s turntable turns combining both music and movement.
Cost: 1600 元
The Loom-Spinner
This Japanese-made music box features a little-man turning his loom. Zhang says the box is extremely well designed and well made to allow the man move up and down turning his loom, as well as play music, without batteries.
Cost: 580 元
Old Shanghai
This snow globe and music box combines western and Chinese elements to create a typical Shanghai scene from the 1930s. A woman sits at her dressing table putting on her earrings with a cat, lying peacefully at her feet. The base of the globe shows The Bund of the 1930s including Shanghai’s own statue of liberty that used to stand on the Bund.
Price: 1180 元
The Christmas Cannonball
“This is one of my favorite pieces,” said Zhang. “Although it needs power to run, it does so many things…. It is a boy’s music box.” When turned on this train plays a variety of different traditional Christmas tunes, the elves on the train all work at their separate jobs, the wheels move and the light at the front of the train turns on. If you add special liquid, the train even belches steam from its smokestack. Zhang does not plan to sell this piece.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Everyone recognizes the character of Snow White, says Zhang, who bought this piece in the Tokyo Disney Land. Since he only has one copy of the box, Zhang does not plan to sell the piece.
The Pandas
This music box, which was made in China, features many traditional Chinese elements, from the pandas wearing Chinese-style clothing to the red and gold design. As a hidden feature, one of the drawers at the base of the box opens, providing an area where jewelry could be stored.
Cost: 580 元
The Ballerina
This music box was handmade from a goose’s-egg in the style of traditional Russian music boxes. Both the egg shape and the dancer motif are very popular types of music box, combining romance, beauty and fragility.
Cost: 429 元
How to get there:
Sky Music Box is located in Tianzifang (closest metro Dapuqiao), lane 248, number 35. The shop is open everyday from 10:30 am to 9:30 pm.
Call 021-34617695 or 13512142859 or Email 917734652@qq.com for more information.
