One of the most beautiful of all French phonographs (if not all phonographs?) was the Louis XV "Ménestrel", especially built by Pathé for J.Girard et Cie. This luxury talking machine was put on the marked in 1902 in a blue version. The phonograph is built on a massive cast iron base. The case is decorated by golden painting in style of "Luis XV". Characteristic are the royal lily ornamentation and the golden lyre on the iron lid. The "Ménésterel" cost at the time 147 French francs, payable in 21 monthly instalments of 7 French francs. Included in the delivery were ten standard size cylinders format standard, ten cylinders format inter and five blank cylinders for recordings. The blue Louis XV version is the rarest of the Menestrels.