- Collection type
- Object
- Description
- French concertina, with mother of pearl keys and silver valves. For wooden box see [1958.10.3 .2].
- Geographical reference
- Cultural groups
- French
- Date / Period
- Date made: Before 1939?, uncertain
- Date collected
- ?By 1939
- Acquisition information
- Found unentered: 1958
- Materials and processes
- Material Wood Plant, Material Silver Metal, Material Mother of Pearl Shell, Process Perforated, Process Machine-made, Process Nailed
- Dimensions
- Height: max 170 mm, Width: max 134 mm, Length: max 370 mm
- Object numbers
- Accession number: 1958.10.3.1
- Research and responses
During a visit in February 2025, folk musician John Spiers shared that this instrument is known as a French concertina or flutina. It is a member of the accordion family because of the angle of the keyboard. There’s a button on the left-hand face for engaging a drone. It plays the same kind of scale as a melodeon (another member of the accordion family) but the other way around, so the note that would be the push on the melodeon is a pull on the French concertina. It’s the same scale just 'inside out'. Flutinas were often very decorative and used as parlour instruments to be shown off in your front room when you’ve got guests round. They were works of art with Mother of Pearl keys and beautiful hand-painted bellows papers. They were mainly made in France, with a few copies also being made in Nottingham because they were popular at that time.
Search terms: Music, Musical Instrument, Free Reed