Simpson Anglo?

[bc_box_player]

Hi folks,

 

I'm new to this forum, so apologies if I'm breaking etiquette, but I'm hoping you can help me. A friend here in Australia recently bought an instrument in an antique shop - he didn't even know what it was, just that it looked nice (!). He's asked me to try to find out about it since I play the button accordion (close enough).

 

It appears to be a Simpson anglo - it has the makers address on one side (Regent St, London) and a serial number on the other. From the quality and state of the leather on the thumb straps I guessed it was 1920 - 1930's vintage. The only web site I could find tells me to reappraise that at 1826 - 1872, depending on the actual address on the label (I left it at work rather than carry it home on the train).

 

One thumb strap and the carrying handle on the wooden case have broken, but it's generally in reasonable condition. The bellows have obviously been replaced at some point. The case appears original - the felt is very faded and there is a pattern of crosses where the little finger supports have worn in each of the possible locations on the insides of the case. From the wear pattern I'd say this was a much loved and very much played instrument.

 

Can anyone point me in the right direction for dating it, valuing it and the best place to get any repairs done?

 

Thanking you in advance,

 

Eno ;-)

[Stephen Chambers]

John Simpson had a music shop and advertised himself as a "flute and flageolet maker" up until about the middle of the 1850's, when he became a "concertina maker". However, he was already selling Wheatstone concertinas, possibly bearing his own label (I have one) in the 1840's.

 

The address on the label is most probably 266, Regent St., Oxford St., London, and it probably dates from around 1855-69. But the instrument sounds like an English if it has thumb straps (which could easily have been replaced at a later date, maybe along with the bellows ?), though Simpson was also an early maker of Anglos.

 

Some pictures would be a big help.

[bc_box_player]

Hope these are clear enough. As you say, the address is 266 Regent St, meaning 1830 - 1869. This looks like it was manufactured by Simpson, rather than rebadged.

 

Any idea if the bellows are original? I also have to admit I don't know the difference between an English and an Anglo - I sort of presumed they were the same thing...

 

Any further information (or links to sources of information) would be greatly appreciated.

 

Eno

[Henk van Aalten]

I also have to admit I don't know the difference between an English and an Anglo - I sort of presumed they were the same thing...

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Eno

 

Welcome to this forum...

 

There is quite a difference between an English Concertina and an Anglo. The Anglo is a so called "bisonoric" instrument: you get a different note on pushing or pulling, while the EC gives the same note on pushing and pulling.

 

Yours is an English Concertina.

Edited March 31, 2005 by Henk van Aalten

[Stephen Chambers]

As you say, the address is 266 Regent St, meaning 1830 - 1869. This looks like it was manufactured by Simpson, rather than rebadged.

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It looks like a very typical mid-nineteenth century English concertina, and quite typically it is next-to-impossible to say who actually made it, re-badging was very common and the same group of "outworkers" seem to have supplied just about everybody. For example, I have seen that fretwork on instruments by about half a dozen "makers", including a French one !

 

Any idea if the bellows are original?

They look original.

 

I also have to admit I don't know the difference between an English and an Anglo - I sort of presumed they were the same thing...

They are about as different as a B/C box and a piano accordion, though I may lose friends by using that comparison. (Ducks and runs for cover )

[wes williams]

Any further information (or links to sources of information) would be greatly appreciated.

The next issue of the article I think you've been using will only add that Simpson purchased many instruments from Wheatstone in the early days, as Stephen says above. I've had a very quick glance at some of the ledgers from that period, and although he was buying in Spring 1848, he seems to have stopped by January 1851 ( there is a gap in ledgers between these two dates). As the fret pattern on this instrument doesn't seem to be one used by Wheatstone (although Stephen may correct me) it may be possible to narrow the date down to 1850 - 1869. The early ledgers should be available online sometime soon at The Horniman Website.

 

Simpson is well known in the flute world, and you may be able to find more information about him by searching on that theme. A good starting point is Terry McGee flutes.

Edited April 3, 2005 by wes williams

[Paul Read]

As to value, I would suggest looking at the ebay results for concertinas over the last week or two. There have been a number of Lachenals of similar quality sold recently. Remember though that the value depends a lot on whether it has been restored or not.

[Stephen Chambers]

As the fret pattern on this instrument doesn't seem to  be one used by Wheatstone (although Stephen may correct me)  it may be possible to narrow the date down to 1850 - 1869.

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Though I have never seen it on a Wheatstone, I am amazed at all the different makes that I have seen that fret pattern on. Here are a couple that have been on eBay recently :

 

 

The first is by Nickolds, #609, the second is of French manufacture. Otherwise, I have seen this fretwork on an instrument by Dove, and I have a Joseph Scates baritone with it.

 

Simpson is well known in the flute world, and you may be able to find more information about him by searching on that theme. A good starting point is Terry McGee flutes.

I have had plenty of Simpson flutes through my hands too, though "badge-engineering" was perhaps even more rampant in the flute world than it was in the concertina one.

 

Simpson's business seems to have been a large one, selling the instruments fashionable at the time, including French accordions/flutinas, for which he published Simpson's Book of Instructions for the Accordeon (of which my copy is the Tenth Edition), as well as Twenty-four books containing the newest and most popular airs ... arranged for the Accordeon.

 

There was a noticeable change in popularity, from the French accordion to the English concertina, around 1850, and I feel that Simpson's becoming a "Concertina Manufacturer" reflects this.

[bc_box_player]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.

 

My friend is delighted with the valuation - especially since I've been able to dig up a couple of recent e-bay results to back it up (thanks for the tip!)

 

Eno

[allan atlas]

FOLKS: there is at least one Simpson in the Wayne collection now in the Horniman. . . . .I played on it when it was still back in Belper. . . . .very nice sound. . . . .allan