12 buttons old accordion ?

[SergeRbt]

Hello
This morning, I discovered this old accordion in a flea market:
No bass button, only treble buttons.
I did not know that such an accordion existed.
Do any of you know more about this accordion?
When was it built? By who?....

Note: If any of you were interested, I took the seller's phone number.
and it is located south of Paris, in France....

Have a nice day !
Serge

 

[dunlustin]

I believe it is called a 'flutina' - an ancestor of the accordion, designed so a lady could show her accomplishments without any threat to her modesty (pudeur?) that came with pumping bellows.

 

[Gonk]

I did not know the modesty theory! Intriguing. The flutina predates the melodeon or squeezebox as we know it now. It featured a similar diatonic scale, but in reverse: the 1, 3, and 5 are on the pull instead of the push. As yours does not feature an accidental row, and has plain woodwork, it would have been a cheaper model at the time. It was likely made in France.

An interesting fact: they were often kept by photographers' studios as props to make the sitter look more erudite and cultured, like a heavy book. As such you can find many photos by searching "flutina daguerreotype":

flutina daguerreotype - Google Search

 

[JerryPH]

Saw a couple variations of this at the NEACM a couple days ago, fascinating, but not a usable instrument today.

 

[kimric]

I rebuilt one of these many years ago for a Civil War reenactor who wanted to be able to play accordion at events.

 

[Papasmurff]

I've just about finished restoring a similar 12 key Flutina. I'm now trying to discover what notes the 12 keys should produce on the Draw and Press. Old tutorials show different tuning. Does any one have any information?

 

[SergeRbt]

Hello,
I collected the following sheet presenting the different note configurations.
May be it can help ...
Serge

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

Here's a daguerreotype taken in New Orleans in 1855 of a young man with a flutina. It is unknown if he played it or if it was a prop.

 

[Big Squeezy Accordions]

Here's someone playing one. Sounds okay.

 

[Dingo40]

Here's someone playing one. Sounds okay.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[JerryPH]

Here's someone playing one. Sounds okay.

Considering that moment in time, that would be the equivalent of the Moog Synthesizer of it's era!

 

[Papasmurff]

Hello,
I collected the following sheet presenting the different note configurations.
May be it can help ...
Serge

Thanks. I have the same link from Cruickshank's tutorial, and similar ones from Hume's 'The complete Preceptor for the accordion', and Jewett's 'National flutina and Accordeon Teacher'. BUT ........ the notes of my keys don't quite match. My keys 2,3,4,5,6,7,8 match ke up with keys 1-7 in the old tutorials - one key out. My keys 9-12 have some matches on the draw, but not on the press - strange. As the old tutorials give lots of tunes to learn, using the Draw/Press notation, I'm considering trying to change the tuning of my rouge 9-12 to match the tutorials. Any thoughts??

 

[AccordionUprising]

Hello
This morning, I discovered this old accordion in a flea market:
No bass button, only treble buttons.
I did not know that such an accordion existed.
Do any of you know more about this accordion?
When was it built? By who?....

Note: If any of you were interested, I took the seller's phone number.
and it is located south of Paris, in France....

Have a nice day !
Serge

I am not sure, but I think the name "flutina" may have been used in England mostly?

Again, I'm not sure, because I don't have the languages to study the early European free reed history well enough, but I believe:
This is the type of accordion made in France before the Franco Prussian War which mostly shifted international accordion production from France to Germany after about 1870. Before that we see lots of similar finely inlaid mother-of-pearl upper-class parlour instruments shaped in this narrower form.

After that German mass-produced button-boxes took over and dominated the globe because working-class immigrants could afford to carry them everywhere they travelled.