Private residence, Glen Iris
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2016 (last updated December 2016)
This small organ of three ranks was built for domestic use in the middle of the 19th century. It is possible that this is the "cottage chamber organ, by Prenton [sic = Renton], of Edinburgh" advertised in The Argus, 15 February 1856, p.2. The construction of the wooden pipes, with their turned stoppers and paper labels with printed inscriptions, resemble Renton's work. Sadly, the small maker's plate has been removed. While it appears to have been in Melbourne from the mid-1850s, it was acquired in Melbourne in the mid-1960s and was restored by the owner.r.
The mahogany casework is in the form of an upright piano, with satinwood used for the console surrounds. There are scrolled keycheeks and the keys have boxwood fronts. The gilded dummy pipes are placed within Gothic openings.
The restoration work included reconstruction of the iron blowing pedal (which had been replaced by hinged treadles), tuning slides for the Principal 4, installation of a new Fifteenth 2 where a Keraulophon 8 had once been placed, gilding of the wooden dummy façade pipes and the making of a new pleated silk panel.
| MANUAL [Stopped Diapason bass 8] [Stopped Diapason treble 8] [Principal 4 bass] [Principal 4 treble] [Fifteenth 2] |
Compass: 56 notes
Horizontal brass wind indicator
Hand and foot blowing
Private residence, Glen Iris: Stopped Diapason pipes
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris: metal pipework
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris: action and reservoir
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris: console detail
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris: printed note markings on Stopped Diapason pipes
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]
Private residence, Glen Iris: feeders
[photograph by John Maidment (26 March 2007)]