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Wheatstone Tenor-Treble at auction


Alex West

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I don't know if anyone's seen this coming up for auction at Gorringes in Lewes on 8th September?

 

 

Number is 29768 and it's a model 19 Aeola from 1923.

 

There's a George Case English as well but I suspect this one is the star.

 

Interesting that Gorringes have an estimate of £150-£200 on the Wheatstone and £200-£300 on the Case

 

Alex West

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I don't know if anyone's seen this coming up for auction at Gorringes in Lewes on 8th September?

 

 

Number is 29768 and it's a model 19 Aeola from 1923.

 

There's a George Case English as well but I suspect this one is the star.

 

Interesting that Gorringes have an estimate of £150-£200 on the Wheatstone and £200-£300 on the Case

 

Alex West

£150-£200?

Are they mad????

Shame I don't play an English!!!

I remember on one of these daytime Flog It style TV shows, a Wheatstone English coming up. The "Expert" said it was worth £400-£500...

I screamed at the TV....FIFTEEN HUNDRED!!!

Guess what...I think it went at auction for £1600 ish!

If you fancy a nice looking box. Get down to Lewes. You might get a bargain!

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As I'm sure you know Ralph, there's a big difference between an auctioneer's estimate and what the item will actually sell for.

 

There was an auction in Maine (US) a couple of weeks ago where an unrestored wooden ended 26 key C Jeffries went for $2100 against the estimate of $800 whilst The Button Box has a fully restored Bb/F one for $9,800 - admittedly metal ended.

 

The old problem of worth versus value I'm afraid.

 

And now that we've told everyone about it, there'll be no more bargain! (But at least the seller should be pleasantly surprised)

 

Alex West

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I don't know if anyone's seen this coming up for auction at Gorringes in Lewes on 8th September?

 

 

Number is 29768 and it's a model 19 Aeola from 1923.

 

There's a George Case English as well but I suspect this one is the star.

 

Interesting that Gorringes have an estimate of £150-£200 on the Wheatstone and £200-£300 on the Case

 

Alex West

 

 

1923? Top period for Wheatstone. Barleycorn are currently selling 48 key wooden-ended treble Aeolas for £3000, so in good nick, this should be worth £3500. I expect Mr Algar will put a bid on it, as usual. Be interesting to see what it does fetch, inc. buyer's premium.

 

Chris

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I don't know if anyone's seen this coming up for auction at Gorringes in Lewes on 8th September?

 

 

Number is 29768 and it's a model 19 Aeola from 1923.

 

There's a George Case English as well but I suspect this one is the star.

 

Interesting that Gorringes have an estimate of £150-£200 on the Wheatstone and £200-£300 on the Case

 

Alex West

 

 

 

1923? Top period for Wheatstone. Barleycorn are currently selling 48 key wooden-ended treble Aeolas for £3000, so in good nick, this should be worth £3500. I expect Mr Algar will put a bid on it, as usual. Be interesting to see what it does fetch, inc. buyer's premium.

 

Chris

 

Will it be at today's pitch (A=440) ?

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Well, I suppose it could have brass reeds.

 

The only brass reeded Aeola I know of belongs to a friend and it is plenty loud. Wheatstone made some superb brass reeds. Cheap lachenals have given brass reeds a bad name!

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Will it be at today's pitch (A=440) ?

 

Quiet likely not, but who knows?

 

Well, I suppose it could have brass reeds. You could always pitch along and find out! :D And will today's pitch be the same as tomorrow's pitch? :unsure:

 

Chris

 

When pitches diverge does that constitute a pitchfork?

 

Greg

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The George Case was interesting as it is in it's original condition.It had a small air lever and as you can see lovely decoration.

It needed a lot of work done to it but I would be really interested to hear it when it has been renovated.

Al

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The George Case was interesting as it is in it's original condition.It had a small air lever and as you can see lovely decoration.

It needed a lot of work done to it but I would be really interested to hear it when it has been renovated.

Al

 

It was a baritone, almost identical in appearance and decoration to a Wheatstone baritone I bought a good few years ago from Chris Algar. I tested it against my singer's pitch pipe and found that it wasn't in modern pitch, but couldn't say what pitch it actually was in. Neither of the two instruments could have been played for many years as they had a lot of leaky valves with one or two notes sounding continuously when I tried them in the auction room. Both will be splendid when brought back to life. It would be interesting to know who owned them.

 

Many thanks to Chris Drinkwater for letting me know about two concertinas in the sale. I live a few hundred yards from the auction room, but don't pay attention to their catalogues.

 

Valmai

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