At Home with Lady Normanby

Music played a central role in the Guinness family life. Grania (1920–2018) and her brother Murtogh, seven years her elder, took lessons from celebrity musicians and composers. Tutors accompanied them during ocean voyages on their father Walter, Lord Moyne’s luxury yacht Rosaura. While the siblings pursued different trajectories during the 1930s – Murtogh focused on performance and composition, and Grania studied ballet under Russian choreographer Nikolai Legat (1869–1937) – a shared love of music connected them throughout their young adult lives. Decades later Murtogh presented Grania, now the Marchioness of Normanby, with the gift of the “Sublima Corona Style No. 32” music box on display in this gallery. Lady Normanby, in turn, donated this Regina to the Morris Museum in memory of her brother in 2005. The Morris Museum enters its third decade of stewardship of this remarkable example of mechanical music with the recent renovation of the music box and its display in this gallery. This exhibition tells the story of both donor and collection, to remind us of the potential of music, design, and technology to foster community in service of future generations.

Leadership support for this exhibition is provided by Will and Mary Leland.

Artwork caption: “Sublima Corona Style No. 32” Coin-Operated Disc Music Box, 1899. Manufactured by the Regina Music Box Company, Rahway, New Jersey. Gift of the Dowager Marchioness of Normanby (1920–2018) in Memory of her Brother, Murtogh D. Guinness. Collection of the Morris Museum. 2005.18a-g. Photo by  Tim Volk.