Old Lachenal

[Marien]

Dear all,

 

I recently received an old rosewood ends lachenal anglo with serial number 5351, which could indicate it may be quite old (about 1855) according to the dating charts. The number is stamped in the reedpan and is also visible behind one of the end plates.

 

I am not sure whether the black case is that old, but it is a typical black lachenal box (suitable for screw drivers) with has a part of a froggy green label in the box lid, may be of a shop or distributor. There are many parts I cannot read, unfortunately I cannot read the name on the label, it is the part with the many question marks.

 

Thinks I can read (with some gambles between brackets) are:

"

No... ...37(?)

(N?)???U ??F A???

....at his ...

 

musical instru..

(DE)POSITORY

..N STR(EET)

(Wo)lverhampton

...ons of musical instru...

..ed and tuned on the pr...

experi(enced) workmen on the shortest...

modern ...rges

 

strings for harp, violin, &c.

of the best quality

"

 

Is there anybody who has an idea who's label this is and at what time this distributor was on the market

 

Thanks,

Marien

Edited March 18, 2008 by marien

[Paul Read]

"

 

Is there anybody who has an idea who's label this is and at what time this distributor was on the market

 

Thanks,

Marien

Marien,

I can't help you with who he was but he was probably on the market between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

[Marien]

Thanks Paul,

 

So if the shop still exists, they may start answering in about an hour.

 

In fact I am just wondering about the age of the concertina case.

 

How would a 150 year a old lachenal case look like?

 

Marien

[Stephen Chambers]

I recently received an old rosewood ends lachenal anglo with serial number 5351, which could indicate it may be quite old (about 1855) according to the dating charts.

Not quite that old, since Louis Lachenal didn't become an independant maker until August 1858, and it appears likely that the firm did not build any Anglos before the International Exhibition of 1862 (or they would have exhibited them there).

 

(See my paper Some Notes on Lachenal Concertina Production and Serial Numbers.)

 

How would a 150 year a old lachenal case look like?

Wooden and six-sided.

[Paul Read]

I recently received an old rosewood ends lachenal anglo with serial number 5351, which could indicate it may be quite old (about 1855) according to the dating charts.

Not quite that old, since Louis Lachenal didn't become an independant maker until August 1858, and it appears likely that the firm did not build any Anglos before the International Exhibition of 1862 (or they would have exhibited them there).

 

(See my paper Some Notes on Lachenal Concertina Production and Serial Numbers.)

 

How would a 150 year a old lachenal case look like?

Wooden and six-sided.

There are a couple on ebay at the moment:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TWO-OLD-CONCERTINA-C...1QQcmdZViewItem

[Marien]

Stephen,

 

This concertina has an original louis lachenal label, and it has a serial number hammered in the red baffle and in the reed pans of 5351, I will open it up to check the number again. It is much like the one in our figure 7, and as you describe early lachenals: 'twenty keys, a simple circle of fretwork (with no central motif, such as later instruments had), and numbered buttons, labelled Louis Lachenal. '

 

What is your best guess for the age of this anglo concertina number 5351, and what do yo think about the age of your number 7602? If you want I can send you pictures.

 

Thanks,

Marien

[Stephen Chambers]

Stephen,

 

What is your best guess for the age of this anglo concertina number 5351, and what do yo think about the age of your number 7602?

Marien,

 

Assuming that Lachenal's started to build Anglos in 1862, that the firm closed down in 1933, and that they made in the order of 201,100 instruments in those 71 years, then the average production would be 2,832.4 per annum. However, the serial numbers of the (probably) Lachenal Anglos sold by Wheatstone's in December 1864 suggest that actual production in the first couple of years may have been considerably less.

 

So my best guess would be that both 5351 and 7602 were made in the mid to late 1860s.