Accession Number

985.019

Alternate Name

melodion

Description

A rosewood-veneered melodeon, the maker's name and business location affixed in gold lettering, the serial number on the inside, the flat wooden top hinged in the centre to reveal the ebony and ivory keyboard, the adjustable music-rest in the shape of a lyre instrument, octagonal tapering legs widest at the top with rounded shoulders terminating with small wheels at the bottom, the iron pumping mechanism with two foot-pedals.

Narrative

A melodeon is a type of small pump-organ. This one was made by the firm of Bell, Wood & Co. of Guelph, Ontario. The pedals operate leather bellows within the instrument which pump air across metal reeds to make sound.

Here is a video of Artis Wodehouse playing the Edinburgh Quadrille written by Charles d'Albert (1578-1621) on a melodeon similar to the melodeon at Craigdarroch: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGpq1kDUb5A 
(video last accessed April 3, 2020)

History of Use

This melodeon was brought to Victoria, B.C. from Guelph, Ontario by the donor's grandfather in about 1900.

Date

circa 1870 – 1878

Dimensions

57 x 115 cm

Material

Wood, rosewood; Metal, iron; Ivory; Wood, ebony

Serial Number

311

Technique

Handmade; Cut; Flat sawn; Machined; Veneered; French polished

Country of Origin

Canada