Concertina, Anglo-German system. Hexagonal, flat, chromed plated ends, fully fretted, inset to bevelled wooden ends. Forty buttons: twenty each side (one missing left-hand), plus one left-hand air release key. Keys are arranged in four rows of five. Keys are domed metal, bushed. Leather straps have been added later and are secured by nickel/brass screws and bone pallets onto a solid wooden hand bar. Seven-fold black leather bellows. Round-end steel reeds on radial reed pan. Serial number 29098, internal batch number 78. Oval paper label under chrome end bears the inscription: C. Wheatstone & Co., Manufacturer, London W.C., 15 West Street, Charing Cross Rd.
This 'Anglo' (or 'Anglo-German') system concertina was manufactured by Wheatstone & Co. in London in 1922. The 'Anglo' system consists of two ten-button rows, each of which produces a diatonic major scale, with five buttons of each row on each side. Some instruments, such as this example, have extra rows of buttons added, allowing accidental and alternatively fingered notes to be sounded. The instrument is bisonoric, which means that pressing and drawing the bellows will produce different notes - like blowing and drawing on a harmonica.
