General Information

Serial #

12162

Part Number

1

Total Parts

2

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

wood casing & parts/ ivory & wood? keys & knobs/ metal & wood pedals/ fabric? covered pedals, now very worn/ metal hardware & parts

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

117.5 cm

Width

60.5 cm

Height

120.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Communications

Category

Music

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Conley

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Madoc

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

late 1800s to mid-to-late 1900s.

Canada

The Conley Church Organ and Piano Co. had two partners: John Bently Church and M. Townsend Conley. Their establishment was situated where the market square in Madoc Township is presently located. The company (ca. 1890) sold pianos, sewing machines and organs made by the Berlin Organ Co. (and maybe others), with the Conley name stenciled onto the instruments. By 1897 their success allowed them to establish, in Madoc, a larger piano and organ manufacturing site which employed 30 men at one time. In two years their increased business caused an expansion of the office into an adjacent building. The partnership entered in June of 1902, when Conly moved to Toronto. Church ran the business until 1903 when he was forced to shut it down due to ongoing health problems.

Function

A free-reed musical instrument in which air is forced through the reeds by bellows to produce sound.

Technical

Replacing the melodeon, the reed organ was popular in the late 19th century. Being cheaper, smaller and more portable than pipe organs, reed organs were the perfect alternative for family use in homes. Reed organs were also used in small churches, but their volume and tonal capacity were limited. Pedal boards are extremely rare, making this organ uncommon. Reed organs lost popularity in the early 1900s. The piano became more favoured as new advances piano manufacturing made them cheaper. Reed organs have now been largely replaced by electronic organs.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

gold stenciled lettering across the front of the organ reads "The Conley, Church Organ And, Piano Co./ Madoc" [the U in Church in inverted]/ incised lettering on the back reads "12162"/ raised metallic lettering on each pedal reads "UXBRIDGE/ MOUSE PROOF PAT'87"/ ornate black lettering on the knobs

Missing

one stop knob is missing, possibly one linking to tremolo/ wood of dexter side is split From CA of 03/06/1995 by Tony Missio: Yes - Missing one stop knob, possibly linkage to tremolo.

Finish

wood casing stained dark brown & coated/ ivory coloured & black stained? keys & knobs/ plated & metallic parts/ red fabric? on pedals, with metallic edging

Decoration

4 squares of stippled decoration on the organ's upper front crossed by two floral designs formed by incised lines enclosing the unmodified wood of the casing/ a long, narrow rectangle of stippled decoration on the lid crossed by an abstract curvilinear design formed by incised lines enclosing the unmodified wood of the casing/ an incised curvilinear design on the keyboard front/ 2 rows of 2 parallel grooves in the curved front edge of each side/ scalloped wood trim on the front above the pedals & across each side