What have I got here?

[Pete Fletcher]

Hi All,
I'm hoping someone can help.
I have had a concertina passed to me from a guy in the village who's wife sadly passed away.
I can't see any makers marks so i don't know what I have. I am tasked with selling it but as a melodeon player I'm a bit out of my depth.
The strap adjusters are a bit different to others I've seen so that may be a clue.
It all works apart from a couple of wheezy notes which I guess will just be valves.
Thanks 

Edited November 18, 2021 by Pete Fletcher

[Roger Hare]

21 minutes ago, Pete Fletcher said:

...The strap adjusters are a bit different to others I've seen so that may be a clue...

It looks like an English, rather than an Anglo, which I suspect is what you have seen before. Possibly

made by Lachenal or Wheatstone?

 

Fear not, unless I'm much mistaken, some-one with far more knowledge of English than myself

will be dropping by 'real soon now'.

Edited November 18, 2021 by lachenal74693

[Theo]

Yes its a 48 key treble English concertina. Metal buttons mean that was better than the basic quality versions which have bone buttons.  Completely flat wooden ends suggest it's of an early date, later models usually have some moulding to the wood round the edges.  It's probably a Lachenal, or a Wheatstone from the period when Louis Lachenal made many of the parts for Wheatstone.

 

If you visit Tyneside I can have a look at it and advise you.

[4to5to6]

You will have to look inside.  Remove an end and pull out one if the reed pans.  Be careful not to mix up the end bolts.  There will be a paper maker’s label on the inside surface of the reed pan.  It will most likely say Lachenal or Wheatstone on it although sometimes I’ve seen the Lachenal scraped off to make it look like a Wheatstone.  You then have to go by the serial number. Serial number is usually stamped into every individual part.  It looks like a standard 48 button treble English…. Probably 1850 to 1870 or so.  Box looks like a Wheatstone.  I’ve seen this brown felt used with 1860s Wheatstones.

Edited November 18, 2021 by 4to5to6

[Pete Fletcher]

Thanks people, I'll have a look inside.

[d.elliott]

The removal of the 'Lachenal' part of the note identification disc, if one is fitted, was usually to accommodate the needs of dealers who were re-badging instruments with their own brand mark. Whilst you are looking, check if the reed tongues are steel or brass. Can you also clarify if the keys are metal or bone?

 

You will also find, stamped inside, a serial number. This will probably help with identifying manufacturer and age.  The easiest to reed number is usually found stamped inside the woodwork of the bellows frame.

[Pete Fletcher]

1 hour ago, d.elliott said:

The removal of the 'Lachenal' part of the note identification disc, if one is fitted, was usually to accommodate the needs of dealers who were re-badging instruments with their own brand mark. Whilst you are looking, check if the reed tongues are steel or brass. Can you also clarify if the keys are metal or bone?

 

You will also find, stamped inside, a serial number. This will probably help with identifying manufacturer and age.  The easiest to reed number is usually found stamped inside the woodwork of the bellows frame.

Thanks for that.
Metal buttons and will check the rest later.

[Stephen Chambers]

What you seem to have got is one very much like this Louis Lachenal, #8488:

 

 

Only it has evidently been reworked/upgraded in the 20th century, with replacement metal buttons, plated finger rests, and quite likely the original brass reeds will have been replaced with steel.

[Pete Fletcher]

Thanks all.

Took the ends off and it is a Lachenal #18359

[Stephen Chambers]

8 hours ago, Pete Fletcher said:

Thanks all.

Took the ends off and it is a Lachenal #18359

 

It was made about 1873 then, around the time the firm's name changed from Louis Lachenal to Lachenal & Co. - so I'd be very interested to learn which formulation of the Lachenal name it is, if you'd like to share that...

[Pete Fletcher]

19 hours ago, Stephen Chambers said:

 

It was made about 1873 then, around the time the firm's name changed from Louis Lachenal to Lachenal & Co. - so I'd be very interested to learn which formulation of the Lachenal name it is, if you'd like to share that...

Here you are.

[Stephen Chambers]

2 hours ago, Pete Fletcher said:

Here you are.

 

Thanks, I thought it would still be Louis Lachenal. Only it's an additional point of reference for the Lachenal dating project.

 

[wes williams]

Dowright sent me this observation on the change between Louis Lachenal and Lachenal & Co:

 

No 19070 is the first English for which we have a Lachenal & Co. label. But No. 22717 is the highest one for which we have a Louis Lachenal label. Clearly, Lachenal & Co. owners had a stock of leftover Louis Lachenal circular pan labels. In some cases, they cut the "Louis Lachenal" off of the pan label (for example, No. 21644), but it was not cut off on others.