The Concertina Museum Collection Ref:C-108.



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Item Type: Concertina

Summary Labels and Serial Numbers End Frets Fingering System Straps and Holding Devices Fret Baffle Action Board Reeds and Reed Pans Bellows Case and Other

Summary

Full Description: C Wheatstone No 32190. A unique and very large Wheatstone 84-Key Maccann Duet "Ĉola" in Octagonal form, from the Ruth Askew Collection , and was once the property of Jim Harvey and Tommy Williams, both founding members of the International Concertina Association or "ICA". The Collection's web pages for this Item includes archive images of the instrument and its previous owners - see here : This model is a high quality Duet system Ĉola, No 32190, made on September 9th, 1929, possibly to commemorate the centenary of Charles Wheatstone's first concertina-related patent in 1829.
It has inset & chrome plated metal ends and the scalloped Wheatstone & Co labels and Number mounts. This uniquely constructed instrument has two reed-chambers per key, and very long aluminium levers with twin pairs of pallets to each end. The blued-steel reeds are in long-scale round-ended aluminium reed-frames with to two smaller sized steel screws securing the tongues, and the bass reeds are in rectangular aluminium farnmes screwed to the surface of the pan-board. The full serial number, and also the Batch Number 132, is stamped upon many of the internal parts.

Concertina Summary: C Wheatstone No 32190. A unique and very large Wheatstone 84-Key Maccann Duet "Ĉola" in Octagonal form, from the Ruth Askew Collection, and once the property of Jim Harvey and Tommy Williams. This model is a high quality Duet system Ĉola, No 32190, made on September 9th, 1929. It has inset & chrome plated metal ends and the scalloped Wheatstone & Co labels and Number mounts. The full serial number, and batch number "132" are stamped upon most internal parts.

Owner or Collection: Concertina Museum, Belper.

Maker: C Wheatstone.

Maker Links: Concertina, Charles Wheatstone No 32190.

Wheatstone Ledgers Link: Ledgers link: www.horniman.info/DKNSARC/SD02/PAGES/D2P0980S.HTM This instrument was made on September 9th, 1929. It appears in the Dickinson Series of Ledgers that list all instruments from Serial Number 25001, made in May 1910, right up to the closure of the Wheatstone section of Boosey & Hawkes' Edgware factory in January 1974. For details of these Ledgers, visit www.horniman.info.

Region of Manufacture: London.

Main Maker's Label Wording: A standard oval paper "West Street" Wheatstone label is glued and taped to the LH oval embouchure, reading: "C Wheatstone & Co. Manufacturers, London, W.C. 15 West St. Charing X Rd" The RH end has a later style of label, with the alleged Serial Number of 1934 stamped into a central un-painted rectangular area, with the labelling "C Wheatstone" and "Made in England" above and below the number "1934" area.

Principal Serial Number: 32190. The RH end has the later 1930s-style scalloped black-on-metal "West Street" label, with the Serial Number stamped into a central un-painted rectangular area, with the labelling "C Wheatstone" and "Made in England" above and below the number area. Other parts only have the "Batch Number" of the instrument, in this case "132".

System Type: Wheatstone 84-Key Maccann Duet "Ĉola" of Octagonal form.

Source Catalogue No: The Concertina Museum Collection Ref:C-108.






Maker Details

Wheatstone & Co. were founded in 1824, and survived until 1974. In 1975 the company was refounded by Steve Dickinson.

C. Wheatstone & Co was established in London, England by Charles Wheatstone (uncle to Sir Charles and William Dolman Wheatstone) at the beginning of the 19th Century. They moved to 20 Conduit Street, London, England in 1824. After the death of William in 1862, the firm was taken over by Edward Chidley, a distant relation. Edward Chidley died in 1899, and the firm was then controlled by his sons Edward and Percy. In 1905 the firm moved to 15 West Street.

After the death of the younger Edward Chidley in 1943, part of the firm was sold to Besson & Co., who were taken over by Boosey & Hawkes in 1948. In 1958 they moved to Duncan Terrace, Islington, North London. In 1961 the Duncan Terrace property was sold, and the remains of Wheatstone & Co. were moved to the Boosey & Hawkes factory in Edgware, Middlesex. The company ceased trading on the death of its last employee in 1974.

The remains of the company were purchased by Steve Dickinson in 1975.


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The Concertina Museum Collection

Created August 2009 by Neil Wayne
Last Modified 07 February 2012 by Neil Wayne, Chris Flint, Wes Williams

This page created Tuesday 14 February 2012.