Jones 26 key with Amboyna ends

[Gillian Baldwin]

Can anyone help me with information about this concertina please?

I bought it privately on ebay at least 10 years ago, and have only just had a look inside the left end, and found a Barleycorn stamp inside.

The number stamped inside is 1720. It has green leather 5-fold bellows and green cloth baffles which are glued into place. The steel reeds were tuned A/E when I bought it and it has a lovely tone used for accompanying singing.

I had always assumed that it might be a Salvation Army instrument but there isn't  a SA cut into the fretwork. The label is for 350 Commercial Rd East.

I would love to have a better idea of when it was made and the sort of musician who would have used it.

Any clues please?

[Peter Smith]

It looks like a lovely anglo.

From the end frets, button layout & rivited levers, I would think its a Jones.

Peter

[Gillian Baldwin]

Hi Peter, yes it is certainly a Jones. What  I would love to know is when the internal stamp "1720" refers to and what sort of player it might have been made for. Thanks, Gill

[Peter Smith]

I would think the 1720 is the serial number of the concertina, which would suggest that it is an early model.

As amboyna ended concertinas are usually the top of the range, I would guess it was not a Salvation Army instrument. Also it doesn't look like it has had a hard life. 

I had a quick look at the Concertina Museum Collection but didn't see a similar anglo there (https://www.concertinamuseum.com/). 

 

 

I am sure there are other  people on the forum who are a lot more knowledgeable than me, who could tell you more.

Peter

[CrP]

Here's a small contribution to the discussion.

     I own a 34-key Jones metal-ended amboyna-wood anglo in C/G that bears some resemblance to the one you're discussing. It bears the serial № 5162 -- NB a 4-digit serial № in contrast to other Jones anglo's in my possession each bearing a 5-digit serial №. Cautiously generalising on a very small sample, I might guess there's some significance to use of a 4-digit number series for amboyna-wood anglo's.

    The pivot mechanism design is the same for your instrument and mine [plural -- not just the metal-ended amboyna-wood anglo]. So IMHO,  it's definitely a G. Jones instrument. I offer no speculation about dating these via the serial №, since my non-Amboyna-wood 34-key Jones instruments may have been produced sometime around 1880-1890.

   

[Peter Smith]

17 hours ago, CrP said:

Here's a small contribution to the discussion.

     I own a 34-key Jones metal-ended amboyna-wood anglo in C/G that bears some resemblance to the one you're discussing. It bears the serial № 5162 -- NB a 4-digit serial № in contrast to other Jones anglo's in my possession each bearing a 5-digit serial №. Cautiously generalising on a very small sample, I might guess there's some significance to use of a 4-digit number series for amboyna-wood anglo's.

    The pivot mechanism design is the same for your instrument and mine [plural -- not just the metal-ended amboyna-wood anglo]. So IMHO,  it's definitely a G. Jones instrument. I offer no speculation about dating these via the serial №, since my non-Amboyna-wood 34-key Jones instruments may have been produced sometime around 1880-1890.

   

Could you add some pictures of the ends?

It looks like another beautiful anglo!

Peter 

[Takayuki YAGI]

17 hours ago, CrP said:

I might guess there's some significance to use of a 4-digit number series for amboyna-wood anglo's.

Here is another 4-digit example, my Jones № 1312, not amboyna but rosewood ends.

https://concertina.org/concertinas/jones-1312/

[DDF]

This may be of interest.It is a George Jones made instrument No 7338, I guess slightly younger than yours. Having solid Indian rosewood ends it has not fared quite as well as yours.It plays fine but the broad reeds are a bit mellow and I'm not that keen on the staggered top row.They were very attractive instruments though.I bought this one about 35 years ago at a local cattle market where they also used to have a few lots of goods and chattels.The vendor put a few  instruments in that sale and said they were from a local de-funked village band. I would guess mine dates from around 1880 and yours a little earlier,that's only a guess though.Regards, David.

[Gillian Baldwin]

Thank you everyone for all the information, especially about other "4-digit" Jones instruments.   Perhaps the four digit serial numbers might have been reserved for non-standard models?  I guess that we will never know.

Gill

[DDF]

2 minutes ago, Gillian Baldwin said:

Thank you everyone for all the information, especially about other "4-digit" Jones instruments.   Perhaps the four digit serial numbers might have been reserved for non-standard models?  I guess that we will never know.

Gill

Or perhaps they were instruments commissioned for bands? Who knows?