Keith Prowse & Co - Lachenal ?

[echo801]

I think I previously posted in the wrong forum.

 

Therefore:

 

I recently acquired this lovely old concertina and would appreciate any advice as to its provenance.

 

Having had a good google and look at your forum I think it may be a Lachenal - rebadged by Prowse.

 

Any advice or comments as to model, maker and age greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

Serial no. is 16135

 

 

 

[Stephen Chambers]

Having had a good google and look at your forum I think it may be a Lachenal - rebadged by Prowse ... Serial no. is 16135

It is indeed a Louis Lachenal, of an inexpensive model, made in the late 1860s. Lachenal's made a lot of what might be described today as "OEM" instruments like that.

 

Keith, Prowse & Co. were musical instrument dealers long before they became solely a ticket/travel agency, and were pioneering sellers of "own label" accordions, and later concertinas, from the beginning of the 1830s on.

 

Otherwise, George Jones mentioned in his memoir that Keith Prowse ... produced good instruments by the employment of Bankham, Card, Potter, and Parrish, which would have been in the 1850s, and I have an example of one of those concertinas (very similar to one labelled Thomas Parrish that I also own).

Edited October 3, 2006 by Stephen Chambers

[Lawrence Reeves]

From my experience with Keith, Prowse flutes they are amazing. I am not certain which fine English maker supplied the 8 keyed simple system flutes for them, but they are some of the absolute finest late 19th century flutes I have played. If anyone out there comes across one, consider it strongly. They used a Pratten bore with very large tone holes. hey reminded me very much of a Boosey "Pratten Perfected" or a Nicholson style instrument. I have worked on one with a crushed foot joint and after restoring it tried to purchase it. Very in tune an very powerful tone. What this has to do with a concertina is beyond me, must be the Shiraz typing.

Having had a good google and look at your forum I think it may be a Lachenal - rebadged by Prowse ... Serial no. is 16135

It is indeed a Louis Lachenal, of an inexpensive model, made in the late 1860s. Lachenal's made a lot of what might be described today as "OEM" instruments like that.

 

Keith, Prowse & Co. were musical instrument dealers long before they became solely a ticket/travel agency, and were pioneering sellers of "own label" accordions, and later concertinas, from the beginning of the 1830s on.

 

Otherwise, George Jones mentioned in his memoir that Keith Prowse ... produced good instruments by the employment of Bankham, Card, Potter, and Parrish, which would have been in the 1850s, and I have an example of one of those concertinas (very similar to one labelled Thomas Parrish that I also own).

[wes williams]

...They used a Pratten bore with very large tone holes. hey reminded me very much of a Boosey "Pratten Perfected" or a Nicholson style instrument. I .. What this has to do with a concertina is beyond me, must be the Shiraz typing.

Mr & Mrs Pratten were well known concertina players ..... Cornelius Ward was Edward and Rock Chidley's uncle ..... the Wheatstones' father was a flute teacher to Princess Alice.... and so on ...all in all, we shouldn't ignore the significance of the flute in the concertina story.

[JimLucas]

...They used a Pratten bore with very large tone holes. hey reminded me very much of a Boosey "Pratten Perfected" or a Nicholson style instrument. I .. What this has to do with a concertina is beyond me, must be the Shiraz typing.

Mr & Mrs Pratten were well known concertina players ..... Cornelius Ward was Edward and Rock Chidley's uncle ..... the Wheatstones' father was a flute teacher to Princess Alice.... and so on ...all in all, we shouldn't ignore the significance of the flute in the concertina story.

And as I've noted before, the earliest concertinas seem to have had a range similar to that of a flute, not the violin range that subsequently became standard.

[Stephen Chambers]

From my experience with Keith, Prowse flutes they are amazing. I am not certain which fine English maker supplied the 8 keyed simple system flutes for them, but they are some of the absolute finest late 19th century flutes I have played. If anyone out there comes across one, consider it strongly.

Keith, Prowse & Co. started off as a partnership between Robert William Keith and William Prowse in 1829, so not surprisingly some of the earlier flutes to bear that brand look like they were made by the latter's brother Thomas Prowse (who with one of their other brothers, Joseph, had originally worked for Clementi) the maker of the Nicholson Model flutes.

 

Later Keith, Prowse & Co. flutes that have passed through my hands were made by the excellent makers Alexander Liddle and Henry Wylde.

 

They used a Pratten bore with very large tone holes. hey reminded me very much of a Boosey "Pratten Perfected" or a Nicholson style instrument. I have worked on one with a crushed foot joint and after restoring it tried to purchase it. Very in tune an very powerful tone.

Some Nicholson (and Richardson) Model flutes made by Thomas Prowse had one-piece bodies, similar to a Pratten, but closer to that model would be some Keith, Prowse flutes that I have had which were made by Wylde.