Chris Timson Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hi all, A friend of mine has just phoned me and asked me if I would pass on details of his stolen concertina. His name is Richard Harris and he lives in Bradford on Avon. The concertina was stolen from his home along with two melodeons, so it sounds as if the thieves were musically clued up. The concertina is a Jeffries metal ended anglo, 32 button Bb/F in old pitch and is Richard's pride and joy, so he is naturally quite distressed by its loss. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjcjones Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Cue jokes about the thieves returning three melodeons... Seriously, though, that is an absolute bummer and I'm sure we all share his distress. I've always been alert to the risk of having instruments nicked while packing up after a gig or a session, but I've rather assumed that if I were to be burgled the thieves would be more interested in the TV. It seems this may be wishful thinking. Here's hoping he gets it back soon. Time for the usual close scrutiny of eBay, and perhaps Bonhams too as they seem to be auctioning a lot of concertinas lately (although I'm sure they're careful over provenance). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Hi all, A friend of mine has just phoned me and asked me if I would pass on details of his stolen concertina. His name is Richard Harris and he lives in Bradford on Avon. The concertina was stolen from his home along with two melodeons, so it sounds as if the thieves were musically clued up. The concertina is a Jeffries metal ended anglo, 32 button Bb/F in old pitch and is Richard's pride and joy, so he is naturally quite distressed by its loss. Chris Also worth getting your friend to post details on melodeon.net Also there is a the Stolen Instrument Gallery on Facebook set up by Ed Rennie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Thanks, Theo, I'll pass those ideas on to Richard. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomB-R Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 That's a very great shame. Do hope he recovers the instruments. A reminder to look to our security measures? Photographs, serial numbers, postcode marking, perhaps a "secret" ID mark or two? Also worth a reminder and warning that AFAIK under current UK law, you never get good title if you buy stolen goods, however many innocent hands they may have passed through. (The old "market overt" rules were abolished by statute a few years back.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 ... I've rather assumed that if I were to be burgled the thieves would be more interested in the TV. Usually they are, in fact "the common thief" is generally so unclued-in about concertinas that I know of a semi-miniature Jeffries that got used as a football, when it was stolen from a car boot in Dublin... Time for the usual close scrutiny of eBay, and perhaps Bonhams too as they seem to be auctioning a lot of concertinas lately (although I'm sure they're careful over provenance). Trouble is, such things seem often not to surface for a long time (sometimes many years) after they're stolen, judging by some that I've recovered for people. In the case of a certain Aeola piccolo D/A Anglo; it was stolen from a van at the Seattle Folklife Festival in May 1988, and bought by myself off eBay (Buy it Now!) in May 2004, from a Lakewood, Washington seller (so it hadn't gone too far in the intervening 16 years), but the 40-key ebony-ended Linota (#27720) that was originally with it is still missing. Whilst (maybe a year, or so, after they were taken from the boot of a car?) two Jeffries that had belonged to the late Andrew Blakeney Edwards turned up in the offices of the Musical Instrument Department at Phillips' Auctioneers (now part of Bonhams) where I identified them. I've also retrieved instruments that were brought into my shop to be sold, sometimes many years later, and a long way from where they were stolen, but a dealer needs to make a very solid identification of the item and to have the details of the crime in order to do this - since the police won't have the information and need to be given it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_boveri Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 ... I've rather assumed that if I were to be burgled the thieves would be more interested in the TV. Usually they are, in fact "the common thief" is generally so unclued-in about concertinas that I know of a semi-miniature Jeffries that got used as a football, when it was stolen from a car boot in Dublin... what does semi-miniature mean? i have only seen one actual miniature jeffries, and that is the one that is owned by noel hill. i've played many miniature wheatstones, but have never dared to ask if i could touch the miniature jeffries... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 what does semi-miniature mean? 5" ends. i have only seen one actual miniature jeffries, and that is the one that is owned by noel hill. I think I may have owned that one before him - at least, it seems to have the same case (that Dipper's made). But I was never so sure about the attribution to Jeffries... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_boveri Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 what does semi-miniature mean? 5" ends. i have only seen one actual miniature jeffries, and that is the one that is owned by noel hill. I think I may have owned that one before him - at least, it seems to have the same case (that Dipper's made). But I was never so sure about the attribution to Jeffries... who do you think made it? it's definitely a different beast than any of the wheatstones i have seen. are you referring to the leather case that opens to the side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Chambers Posted December 8, 2009 Share Posted December 8, 2009 who do you think made it? it's definitely a different beast than any of the wheatstones i have seen. are you referring to the leather case that opens to the side? Hard to say, but there's no name on it - maybe Jones, who had a particular fondness for miniatures? It's a long time since I saw it, maybe 30 years... The case is like a miniature Jeffries hexagonal, leather, "jug" case, so it would open to the side if you were holding it by the handle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Jordan Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) I know it has already been said, but bears repeating. I'm sure a lot of you you don't do facebook for many reasons. Fine. But I would genuinely urge anyone in the business of dealing in instruments to sign up and join The Stolen Instruments group. Ed Rennie, myself, and Gareth Kiddier set it up earlier this year as a sort of catch all for anybody who had sadly had something lost or stolen. It's not a chat room, or anything like that. If you've had something stolen. Just post up pictures, and as many relevant details as you know, (when where how etc). And for dealers out there, Just check in once a week to see if anything new has been added. a couple of mouse clicks, and you could just make someone very happy. Maybe there could be a permanent thread "Lost and Stolen" on Conc.net too? Hopefully, it would never be used, but, hey! And please, please, please. take lots and lots of photos, We've all got digi cams nowadays. I wish I had decent photos of my Fylde guitar (nicked 4 years ago). I now have about 100 pics of my various instruments (Tinas and others) sitting on a CD that I hope I never have to look at. Sorry for going on, but. Take a photo of the horse before it bolts....... (Like the idea of UV marking somewhere inside your box. again the work of half an hour.) I hope our friend gets lucky. it looks a lovely box. And I can really imagine how bad he must be feeling. Regards Ralphie. PS And to all the dealers on this site....pass the word on to your professional colleagues in the trade. Luckily the concertina world is quite small, so, an AWOL box should be spotted quite quickly, lets face it, the thief wouldn't know what he'd nicked anyway! Should be easy to catch him out. So, photos, serial numbers, UV pen marking. You know it makes sense! Edited December 11, 2009 by Ralph Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Jordan Posted December 11, 2009 Share Posted December 11, 2009 Having just re-read Steven Chambers remark above, All photos will remain on the Facebook page for as long as they have to. Sometimes, it's years before something turns up. Maybe, dealers should do a print out of the pics, and keep them handy, just in case someome comes in to their shop looking slightly shifty with a beautiful box saying, "Oh it was Grandads....I want £3000 for it!!" Keep safe, all. And I hope you never have to upload anything to the gallery. (Now has anybody seen my Fylde guitar?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted December 11, 2009 Author Share Posted December 11, 2009 (edited) Ralphie, I passed on what you (and Theo) said to Richard. Thanks, Chris Edited December 11, 2009 by Chris Timson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irene S. Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 Having looked at all the above postings again, it occurred to me that , while The Stolen Instrument Gallery on Facebook has been mentioned more than once, nobody has actually linked to the photograph of the missing tina ... so here's the link, which, as far as I know, should be accessible. If not, you may have to join Facebook in order to access it. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&story_fbid=198506218493&id=576089848#/photo.php?pid=17986&op=1&o=all&view=all&subj=55285563869&aid=-1&oid=55285563869&id=100000543373334 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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