#4950 Wheatstone

[StephenTx]

Drawing on your expertise again. My Wheatstone Serial #4950 I was able to find in the sales ledger from 1852.  Greg Jowaisas Refurbished it for me several years ago I don’t recall what model it is or it would be called as I can’t locate any production ledgers look forward to your experts comments thank you

[wes williams]

Its worth remembering that Bob Gaskin's  Concertina.com site has a lookup for Wheatstone numbers : http://www.concertina.com/ledgers/lookup/index.htm

 

That tells you that 4950 also appears in Ledger C1048 page 60  (October 1853) where its in a batch sold to Joseph Scates (maker and dealer), so you've got a little more of its history.

Edited September 2, 2020 by wes williams

[StephenTx]

1 hour ago, wes williams said:

Its worth remembering that Bob Gaskin's  Concertina.com site has a lookup for Wheatstone numbers : http://www.concertina.com/ledgers/lookup/index.htm

 

That tells you that 4950 also appears in Ledger C1048 page 60  (October 1853) where its in a batch sold to Joseph Scates (maker and dealer), so you've got a little more of its history.

Thank you but I’m confused why is there a difference in the entry I found see attached and entry you found 4950?  And I’m still trying to determine what the model is.And I’m still trying to determine what the model is.

[wes williams]

Sometimes concertinas appear in the sales ledgers more than once. Assuming there were no errors in the numbers written, your concertina was sold to Hammond & Son (so a dealer?) in June 1852 as part of a batch of four. We have no records for concertinas re-purchased by Wheatstone (sometimes in part exchange for a better model), but the 1853 sales ledger shows it was sold again to Joseph Scates as part of a batch of twelve in 1853. Scates was a maker  and dealer who had gone into business on his own account about 1845, being formerly a tuner for Wheatstone. However he sold his business to George Case (another maker/dealer) about 1850 and then moved to Dublin, Ireland. Lots of info on Scates here: http://www.scatesconcertinas.com/

 

I'll happily be corrected, but I don't think model numbers were in use at this time. The price paid depended on the wood used, the button material, and other 'extras' like for example inlays. These are much more evident  in later ledgers. It makes it very difficult to link a particular build style of concertina to a sale price, especially where dealers are involved and getting 'trade prices'.