cmc2 (9K)

Instrument Section C-370 to C-429, Maker - Foreign Manufacture

From the early 1840s, German-made concertina-related instruments, initially of rectangular form, began to be imported into and marketed in Britain:       Their makers soon adopted the hexagonal form from the quality instruments developed by Wheatstone and later by Louis Lachenal, but the German-made “Anglo-German” concertinas were very considerably cheaper that the English-made “English” and “Anglo” concertinas. Though German instruments were often floridly decorated and inlaid, internally they were fashioned of softwood, with simple brass reeds in rows on nickel plates, crude wooden levers and pallets, and bellows of fancy paper over cardboard. Their cheap prices, fancy looks, and widespread marketing by a wealth of dealers led to their adoption across the UK and “The Colonies”. A superb two—volume history “The Anglo-German Concertina – a Social History” (publ: Concertina Press, Fulshear, Texas, 2009 – see www.angloconcertina.org ) tells the tale of the spread of this instrument around the world, and the fine thesis by Stuart Eydmann on “The Social History of the Concertina”  (downloadable here) further documents in its chapter 6 the spread of this most influential form of the concertina.

The Horniman Museum’s Wayne Collection, acquired in 1996, includes many German-made instruments, and the Concertina Museum now has over 70 specially-selected instruments- of German and French origin,  that show the many  unusual shapes, fancy inlays and patterning, and variant fingering systems, (of both Anglo, “English”, Piano-fingered and Bandoneon formats) used on these ‘cheap and cheerful’ instruments.

Here is a summary of the various styles of instruments in these sections of The Concertina Museum’s German and continental-made concertinas:

Instrument Section C-370 to 376 German & French "English" System
Instrument Section C-377 to 380 German-Made - Unusual Profiles
Instrument Section C-381 to 388 German-Made - Fancy Metalwork, inlays
Instrument Section C-389 to 391 German-Made - Scalloped Profiles
Instrument Section C-392 to 394 German-Made - Unusual key arrangements
Instrument Section C-395 to 402 German-Made - Simple 20-keys
Instrument Section C-403 to 406 Modern French/Italian-made - 20-Keys
Instrument Section C-407 to 409 German-Made - early rectangular models
Instrument Section C-410 to 419 German-Made -  true Bandoneons and Chemnitzers

cmcdiv (1K)
The Concertina Museum Concertinas Related Instruments Related Items Back


The Concertina Museum Collection

Created December 2010 by Neil Wayne
Modified September 2011 by Wes Williams
This page created Wednesday 14 September 2011.