Description:

Western Europe, France, ca. 1860s CE. A lovely antique accordion instrument with a wood fingerboard / housing, brass and nacre keys, and functional bellows with colored paper overlay. This is a diatonic aerophone- the bellows produce 2 different pitches when expanded and compressed. The 24 touches or touch pieces and the 26 valve covers are each wood with a shimmering nacre (mother of pearl) overlay. The slender lever keys are made of brass, as is the bass lever that the left hand would operate. The housing is inlaid with lighter honey colored wood to create handsome scrolling foliate shapes. The bellows are 5-fold pasteboards covered with a lovely mint green, red, and golden paper. This is not recommended for playing as is, but the excellent craftsmanship, woodwork, and shells, make this a superb display piece! Size when compressed: 14" L x 6" W x 5" H (35.6 cm x 15.2 cm x 12.7 cm)

Provenance: private Hidden Valley Lake, California, USA collection; ex-private Florida, USA estate

All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.

A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.

We ship worldwide and handle all shipping in-house for your convenience.

#170637

  • Condition: Peeling to paper and cracking to paperboard on bellows. Chips to wood and a few small losses to lighter wood inlays in corners. Missing nacre panels and loss to wood on 2 keys, and several are slightly loose but still attached. Keys are stiff and several do not articulate. Not playable as is, but instrument still emits sounds.

Accepted Forms of Payment:

American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa

Shipping

Auction House will ship, at Buyer's expense

August 18, 2022 8:00 AM MDT
Louisville, CO, US

Artemis Fine Arts

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 26.5% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $299 $25
$300 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $20,000