Lap organ
Alternate name(s)
- Reed organ
- Rocking melodeon
Maker
Daniel B. Bartlett
Date1847 ca.
Place MadeConcord, New Hampshire, United States, North America
SignedWritten on rectangular gold ground on the top board: D. [B. BA]RTLETT, / MANUFACTURER, / CONCORD, N.H.MarkingsStamped inside at the left of the upper bellow/windchest: 22
Chiseled on the top edge of the case under the top board, near the back right corner: XVII
Written in pencil on the top board of hte wind chest: Concord June 3d 1857 / Repaired by J. W. Prescott / [line separating sections] / E. H. Rollins elected / Speaker of the house by 65 / majority.
DescriptionCompass C to c3 (four octaves, 49 notes). Piano-type key (not buttons): ivory naturals, ebony sharps. Single row of free reeeds sounding on air under pressure supplied by a cunieform reversoir bellows above a cunieform feeder bellows. Swell louver operated by a sliding button in front of the keyboard. Rosewood-veneered case. The bellows retain their original black oilcloth exterior covering and leather gussets.
About 1860 the instrument was provided with a stand incorporating a treadle to work the bellows by foot. Except for the addition of a small slip of wood to attach the pedal cord to the bellows, the instrument itself was unaltered and retained its rocking motion while being played.
Of exceptional interest is the repair inscription by Jacob W. Prescott, himself a notable manufacturer of melodeons and son of pioneering Concord musical instrument maker Abraham Prescott.
The 13-mm thick battens applied to the left and right edges of the bottom board (also present on NMM 2446, a similar instrument by Bartlett) suggest that the instrument was intended to be placed on a table to be played, not held on the player's lap, as implied by the current common name for the instrument, "lap organ." Such battens are found on several instruments of this type at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, as can be seen in photos on their websites.
DimensionsLap organ (without stand):
length: 692 mm
width: 392 mm
height: 143 at the front, when closed, excluding the battens on the bottom
height: 165 at the back, when closed, excluding the battens on the bottom
3-octave measure of the keybaord: 460 mm
Height with stand: 770 mm with instrument closed; 910 mm with bellows extended
Credit LineGift of John Koster and Jacqueline Block, 2014
Object number14829
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