Vintage Crane Duet 55 Button Wheatstone Concertina Sn 12 On Ebay

[Stephen Chambers]

I noticed this instrument, Vintage Crane Duet 55 Button Wheatstone Concertina SN 12, on a previous eBay outing but hadn't time to bring it up then, but now the seller has been advised (thanks Daniel! ) to ask me for an opinion on it.

They've stated that "According to the ledgers the SN 12 would be approximately 1834/35" and I've replied as follows:

"You have quite an enigma there, but it certainly isn't "Wheatstone number 12" which would have been given the Roman number XII, have been English system, and look like this one:

Anyway, the Crane duet wasn't even invented until 1896!

What I believe you have there (from such details as the gold tooling and decorated papers on the bellows, the reeds and reedpan construction, and the use of mahogany for the action board) is a good quality Lachenal Crane duet that was either unfinished and completed by Wheatstone's after they took over Lachenal (in 1933), or secondhand (with damaged fretwork) and "rebuilt" (overhauled and fitted with new fretwork) by them in the 1930s or 1940s. Such things were done, especially after the take-over of Lachenal's, and also during the Second World War (when new ones could not be made)."

[Stephen Chambers]

Ah wait! I thought I'd commented to somebody about it before - there was an earlier thread, only it was 2 months ago: Wheatstone Crane S/n Oddity

 

[Stephen Chambers]

I see the seller has now revised the listing, describing the instrument as Vintage Lachenal/Wheatstone Crane Duet 55 Button, incorporating my comments to her in the description and reducing the price to less than half.