(Photograph courtesy of Q. David Bowers.)

Mortier 101-key Taj Mahal Dance Organ in the Hathaway & Bowers, Inc., shop area, circa 1970. Built by Theofiel Mortier, S.A., Antwerp, Belgium, this spectacular dance organ was constructed circa 1924, and was originally installed in St. Jean's Palace, Antwerp, Belgium. According to Leonard Grymonprez, the land occupied by St. Jean's Palace was needed for a new building project, and so after a court proceeding the dance hall was razed. The Mortier organ was then moved to the Agora dance hall in Ledeberg, which it resided for a brief time. It was sold and then moved to Zelzate, a town located along the border between Belgium and Holland, where it was installed in the Reseda dance hall situated in the market square. This great organ was reportedly operated until 1952. It stands about 26 feet wide by 20 feet tall, with an overall depth (organ chassis plus front decorative facade) of about 15 feet. It plays 101-key folding cardboard book music.

(Photograph courtesy of Q. David Bowers.)

Postcard image produced by Theofiel Mortier, S.A., in 1924, showing the Mortier 101-key Taj Mahal dance organ installed in St. Jean's Palace, Antwerp, Belgium. Of the approximately 1400 organs built by Th. Mortier this particular specimen was considered by many organ connoisseurs of the day to be one of the most spectacular of all the dance organs ever built.

(Photograph courtesy of Q. David Bowers.)

The Mortier Taj Mahal with its lighting effects restored and illuminated. There are several lighting circuits, with certain strings of colored lights illuminated depending upon the pipework registers currently activated. The two tall milk-glass columns are illuminated from the inside using light bulbs that are housed within a clear plastic-like cylinder that was splashed with a rainbow of colored swirles. These cylinders are suspended at the upper end on a bearing point that allows the cylinder to rotate with almost no friction. As heated air from the light bulbs rises it interacts with a series of angled vanes in the top of each cylinder, causing it to slowly spin, producing a pleasant and constantly changing display of swirling color.