Bellows papers on early wheatstone

[David Logan]

Hi All, I am new to this forum and wondered if anyone could help identify the bellows papers on a concertina I have just started restoring. The instrument is an 1847 ( serial no 1278) rosewood ended, bone buttoned, nickel silver reeded (square ended reed beds) with 5 fold bellows.  I have not seen this pattern of bellows papers before and wondered if they are are likely ro be original or have been replaced. It is also missing one button and has 1 broken reed. Any thoughts?

Edited October 15, 2022 by David Logan
Spelling error

[alex_holden]

They don't look to be individually printed. I think someone probably just bought some sheets of decorative paper from the Victorian equivalent of a craft store and cut the papers from it.

[David Logan]

Thanks Alex, that’s useful to know

[d.elliott]

Early bellows used book-binder crafts and materials, looks a bit like the decorative paper used to line the inside of a book cover.

 

[David Logan]

Thanks for your reply Dave. They do indeed look like that. I think I will leave them on when restoring the bellows as I would like to keep it as original as possible.

[d.elliott]

not a bad idea, but just see if there is any sign of an earlier paper underneath what you have.