Dowright

JFB (Joe), I estimate circa 1907 for your 46-key Lachenal Maccann duet, Don, Dating your Lachenal Excelsior No 26318 is not as easy as it might seem, given that I do not have any receipts for instruments with nearby serial rumbers. So I use the following indirect approach. Even though your Excelsior presumably does not have bowing valves, the following is useful information: (1) Alsepti's bowing valve patent (No 8290) was granted on 8 July 1885, and (2) the first instrument with bowing valves in my data is No. 28320. If that one was built around the time that the patent was granted , then we can suppose that your No 26318 was made soon before or shortly after the 1885 date. But could it be that the No 28320 was built long after the patent went into effect? Not so, because I have receipts for No 29000 (1889), No 32620 (1894), and No 32621 (1895). So my estimate for yours in circa 1885.

Cohen, I am pretty sure that yours is a Lachenal, which would make it by far the earliest of the few Anglo bass in my records. Of over 3.300 Anglos in my data, only 3 others than yours are bass Anglos--Nos. 80151 (20 key), 95348 (34 key), and 100086 (30 key). I estimate the year of manufacture for yours as circa 1878. The next one--No. 80151--would date to circa 1884.

I have a really rare 40 key Wheatstone Edeophone Anglo in D/A that I will soon be selling. Yes, it is an Anglo, not English, Edeophone. Yes, it was made by Wheatstone, not Lachenal, in the mid-1930s. Yes, in the keys of D and A (a great comnbination) rather than C/G. I will try to post a descripion here, in the next few days. But if you are interested, you can send me a personal message beforehand.

Rod; Maccann No. 894 is not especially easy to date, but my best estimate is circa 1890-1891. Inside No. 729 was written "John Thomas, Concertina Soloist, March 4 1896". But I am certain that this entry was made several years after the manufacture. If he bought it in 1890-1891, five years later would have been about the right time for a tune-up/repair at which time the inscription could be made while it was opened up. I have been slow in sending you an email because, when I do, I want to attach some photos of the two 12-key Crabb English miniatures tht I have. COMING SOON !

Jason ("oruairc"), Your No. 162462 is easy to date. I have a bill of sale for one less than 500 numbers later than yours--No. 162849 receipt dated 1898. Takayuki, Lachenal was building a lot of Anglos in the 1890s. Though your No 155862 was about 7000 less that the No. 162849, it was probably made only one year earlier, in 1897. In my data, your No 155862 is shown as 26 Key originally in Ab/Eb and retuned ot C/G; wood fretwork, bone buttons, brass reeds, and 5-fold bellows. I would appreciate knowing if this description is correct. A note on the dating estimates that I provide: I usually say "circa" rather than a singe definite year. Today, you may have to wait months or years to acquire your new high quality concertina. But Lachenal had a little showroom with a Dutch Daly poster on the wall and an inventory of concertinas from which one or more could be putchased on a first visit. So the instrument may have laid a while in the showcase after being built a little earlier than the year shown on the sales receipt. Also note that it is imperative to eliminate sales receipt for purchases of used instruments.

saguaro, Ironically, The mistaken estimate that I originally had for your Maccann No 2046 is close to the estimated date--hopefully correct--that I have for your Crane No. 3008. I do not have a sales receipt for a Crane with serial number close to your Crane number of 3008, but I used other information to arrive at estimate of circa 1911. Weak supporting evidence is provided by a Crane Triumph with serial number 3032, which is the first Triumph in my data. The Salvation Army formally adopted the Crane/Triumph in 1912, which is when the Salvation Army's Triumph tutor was published.

Your No 85280 Lachenal concertina was made in about 1885. (!t is just a coincidence that the year of my estimate and the serial number each has an "85"' Note: in advertising, you will need to tell prospective buyers as to whether it has steel or brass reeds. (In fact, I am curious as to which.)

Saguaro, I estimate the year of manufacture of your Maccann No. 2046 as circa 1910. I do not have any receipts or other info for Maccan duets in this serial number range, but here is the logic of my estimate: Maccann duets had the early duet numbering sequence. (starting in 1884). When Crane duets appeared, they originally had a separate serial number series (starting in 1896). However, when the Buttersworth patent owned by Crane expired, the joint Crane-Maccann series emerged, proceeding from the then current top of the Maccann series, which was then at or around No. 2000. This occurred in 1910/1911 when the patent had expired. At that time, the old separate Crane series was around 1200. CORRECTION. STOP THE PRESS! I am embarrassed to say that the above message is fairly logical but totally wrong. I have found an original sales record for Maccann No. 1819 dated February 8, 1898, with a label of "Maccann Concertina Academy, Liverpool, Lachenal & Co Instrument. " Thus, my new estimate for No. 2046 is circa 1900.

Your 24-key was made in about 1875. Though yours is labeled as "J Wallis", other Lachenal Anglos of the period were labeled as "Louis Lachenal" or "Lachenal & Co.". The company transitioned from "Louis Lachenal" to "Lachenal & Co" in 1873, and started using "Lachenal & Co" labels on some instruments. But they had left-over "Louis Lachenal" labels which they continued to use on some instruments. In my data, No 24786 , a 22-key, is the first one labeled "Lachenal & Co"; No 27250 is the last one labeled "Louis Lachenal."

saguaro_squeezer, I would have sent you a personal message but did not know how to do so. I have two 12-key English Crabb miniatures --one with crimped metal fretwork (No. 17553, circa 1965) and one with totally flat metal fretwork (No. 10169 , circa 1945)--each with hexagobal ends measuring 2 7/8 inches across the ends. I may (or may not) keep one of them for myself, but I would not care which one. When I advertise in Buy and Sell, I will keep you in mind for first choice.

Rich C R: Maybe, the following concertina would be what you need: I have a wood-fret 30-key Lachenal Anglo that is in the piccolo range: that is, it is in the keys of C and G but one octave higher than the usual C/G Anglo. Since an octave higher, it is quieter than the usual C/G Lachenal. Serial number 106712, made circa 1889. Bone buttons, steel reeds, and 6-fold bellows with decorative papers. Comes with a fitted hard case. Recently appraised as in very good condition with an appraised value of US$2,500. I will offer it to you at $2000 plus $50 for shipping and shipping insurance (which is probably below the actual shipping cost). I do not know what you face in Scotland regarding import duty or other taxes. However, the $500 discount from appraised value should defray the cost. Please send me a personal message to let me know whether or not you are interested. If yes, I can send you some photos of the instrument. I am giving you the right of first refusal. If you are not interested, it will be posted in the Buy and Sell section of concertina.net.

Happy New Year! I have been waiting for the post-holidays to sell some concertinas. I have several English, Anglo, duet miniatures that I acquired while researching "Miniature and Semi-Miniature Concertinas," Papers of the International Concertina Association, Vol. 9, 2012 (available online; see PICA tab in concertina.org) . Now I plan to sell a number of them, but not all at one time. Very soon, I will post "For Sale" notices for two semi-miniature Anglos and a very special 12-key Wheatstone English miniature. I will also be selling several full-size Anglos--Wheatstone, Lachenal, and Jones. Sorry English and duet players: I do not have any full-size ones. I will place them on consignment with dealers, if necessary. However, I wish to give the first opportunity to potential buyers among concertina.net members. A couple types are still being made, and therefore retail price quotes are available. For all the others, I have recently obtained appraisals by a well-known dealer. I will be selling all of them at below-appraised value (or retail replacement cost). Of course, any sales on concertina.net will be followed by a donation to the site. Why am I selling. I have lots of concertinas but only two hands. I will keep a few for my playing, but the others need to be in other players' hands.

I estimate the year of manufacture for Maccann No. 2097 as 1901. The closest "marker" that I have is a bill of sell dated 8 February 1898 for Maccann No. 1819--62 key, raised metal fretwork, metal buttons, 6-fold bellows. I already had No. 2096 (55-key Edeophone) and No. 2097 in my data. These are the first two Macann duet Edeophones in the data. No. 2098 is also there, but it is not an Edeophone.

To the best of my knowledge, W. J. Thomas was a music instructor and possibly a choral director. But you may run across a quote in Fintan Vallely, A Companion to Irish Traditional Music (New York University Press, 1999), page 142: " 'Folk' music, song and dance are derived from the term "folklore" first proposed by British antiquarian W. J. Thomas in 1846." But the originator of 'folklore" was writer William James Thoms (not Thomas)--1803-1885.

Circa 1868. Sure looks like replacement bellows and bellows papers. Incidentally, I had not heard of a W J Thomas label. The three Thomas in labels seen by me--many labels--have been given names--Thomas Prowse and Thomas Dawkins, of London, and Thomas S. Guest of Exeter.

Serial number?

Made circa 1892. Wood or metal fretwork? Bone or metal buttons? Steel or brass reeds? 5- fold or 6-fold Bellows?

Your concertina No 111028 was made in about 1890--not circa 1910. Yes, I am sure.

My data on Lachenals (of which 3359 Anglos) does not contain any with side-fretted metal ends. However, there is one with side -fretted wood ends--No 84741; 30 key ; bone buttons, steel reeds; 6-fold bellows. I held a similar one in 2002, but did not get the serial number. I know that it was 2002, beacause I saw it at the home of the host for a Charles Wheatstone 200th birthday celebration.

Serial number?

I estimate that it was made circa 1878. The closest "marker" that I have is No 46951, a 20 key Anglo with handwritten "Bought at Wallis Warehouse, 1 Jan 1878". Lachenal was making about 5200 Anglos per year in that period.

I guess that we can tell from the third photo, through the bellows, that it has steel reeds.

Yes. it was made by Lachenal (about 1870). It undoubtedly has 5-fold bellows, but we are not told if it has brass or steel reeds.

Comparing bellows action to violin bowing goes back to the 19th century, thanks to Signor Alsepti. In fact, his part in the creation of "bowing valves" was inspired by the analogy. See attachment.

You may have seen my article on miniature concertinas in the Papers of the International Concertina Association (now defunct but back issues archived in the PICA section of concertina.org). In the course of writing the article, I acquired a collection of miniature concertinas. I am currently in the process of having them appraised. I will be selling most of them--English, Anglo, and duets made by Wheatstone, Crabb, Lachenal et al--in the near future. I will be selling them here at concerrina.net and elsewhere.