Whalebone Sided Lachenal

[pengle]

I bought an unusual English Lachenal on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts about 30 years ago. The shop owner said she got it from an antique dealer on Long Isand, NY. Wish I had researched the origin then...

It has hand carved whalebone ends with alternating whale and heart cut-outs and crude brass molding going around the edges. (Seems like it was carved and re-fitted by someone who didn't know much about instruments since the metal and bone addition seemed to make it nearly impossible to keep the seams tight.) When I bought it the 4-fold bellows were mostly rotted and I replaced these but haven't been able to get it tight enough to play.

I don't have a photo to post now - but it looks much better than it sounds.

 

Does anyone have any idea of the origin or how to research such a unique specimen?

- Paul

[Chris Ghent]

I for one am crying out for a picture, or a bunch of pictures of this...

 

Chris

[rmerris]

Serial number?

[pengle]

Serial number? No, unfortunately the concertina had been altered and had no serial number when i got it. It's a 48-key Lachenal with black and white buttons. The reeds seem to be a mix of brass and steel to my eyes, (is that possible?) but I am no expert. So how do I know it's a Lachenal you may ask. I think thsis was the conclusion of Stuart Frank, (now a curator at the New Bedford Whaling Museum) when he looked at it over 25 years ago. I don't believe there is a Lachenal name or number inside. I'll try to post photos soon. - Paul

[JimLucas]

I bought an unusual English Lachenal on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts about 30 years ago. The shop owner said she got it from an antique dealer on Long Isand, NY. Wish I had researched the origin then...

It has hand carved whalebone ends with alternating whale and heart cut-outs and crude brass molding going around the edges. (Seems like it was carved and re-fitted by someone who didn't know much about instruments since the metal and bone addition seemed to make it nearly impossible to keep the seams tight.) When I bought it the 4-fold bellows were mostly rotted and I replaced these but haven't been able to get it tight enough to play.

I don't have a photo to post now - but it looks much better than it sounds.

... I'll try to post photos soon. - Paul

Unfortunately, it appears that the last time Paul logged onto C.net was back in 2004, a week after that last-quoted post. However, I did see the instrument once, and though it was at least 20 years ago, I'll add what I think I can remember.

 

I think it has to have been a whaler's shipboard instrument. The whalebone ends are crude, and don't have the look of any made-for-ignorant-tourist curios I've ever seen. Besides, in the fake curio business there would surely be a much greater profit margin in a pair of carved plates than in adding a not-quite-functioning English concertina to such items, and handmade brass clamps to hold them on.

 

I recall the appearance of the bone itself as inconsistent in both texture and thickness. The carving of the cutouts is simple and crude. Unfortunately, I don't have a clear memory of the button holes, thumb straps, or finger plates. I suspect that means that there was nothing remarkable about them. But all told, it had the look of something barely (or perhaps not quite) functional, done by someone in their spare time.

 

My conclusion is that the instrument was indeed played by a sailor on some whaling ship, and that the whalebone ends were done not so much as a work of art, but as a repair. Wood would have been scarce, but whalebone plentiful (at least after they caught the first few whales), so if a wooden end was damaged, it would make sense to replace it with whalebone. Both ends were replaced. Maybe both ends were damaged, or maybe only one, but the owner wanted the ends to match after the repair. (One of the many details we'll probably never know.)

 

Someone did the repair. Maybe more than one? I can image that the ship's carpenter might have been asked to cut the ends and do any necessary drilling, but that the owner or the person who caused the damage -- not necessarily the same person -- did the carving and other "finish" work. Maybe the ongoing playability issues that Paul mentions resulted from the crudeness of the repairs, or maybe the damage was more extensive than just the ends. I don't know if it was ever played again, but it was at least brought back to shore.

 

My examination of the instrument was unfortunately brief, and I don't recall having it open. I do recall that I also concluded it was a Lachenal.

 

I will see if I can find some way to contact Paul again. I think we all would like to know more about this instrument, even if it's unlikely that we'll be able to learn any more about its detailed history.

Edited June 11, 2007 by JimLucas