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Andy (Orchosol) kindly pointed out this machine that was listed online as it was in my neck of the woods, I thought I'd give it a go, managed to get it today, sounds pretty good!, still needs a soundbox rebuild and a new carry handle as well as a case polish but it was a good find I think

Also seems to have an ivory winding handle, which I don't suspect is original, so I'll have to look out for one

Really glad that came together Alex, well done!

kirtley2012 wrote:Andy (Orchosol) kindly pointed out this machine that was listed online as it was in my neck of the woods, I thought I'd give it a go, managed to get it today, sounds pretty good!, still needs a soundbox rebuild and a new carry handle as well as a case polish but it was a good find I think

Also seems to have an ivory winding handle, which I don't suspect is original, so I'll have to look out for one

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Lovely machine indeed.

I wonder, I seem to have seen (although I am probably wrong) a few of these colonial machines with seemingly the HMV logo varnished over. Why is this I am wondering ?

Keep the ivory crank. It's kind of neat--ivory is probably the coolest Indian-Empire material they could have made a crank out of.

Nice bit of the history of the machine, and it makes one wonder whether the owner might have been hunting elephants or something back in the 1920s and '30s.

"pretty good"? This is a very remarkable finding!

My eyes also immediately fell on the coated decal. I have no experience with colonial units, but perhaps this was meant to protect it from humidity.

At least to my eyes it looks like the crank is a mix & match of the original crank and a part of an old door handle, however it's quite peculiar and I would also keep it that way. I would just have the top bit nickeled to match the rest, if feasible (unless proven that it's 100% original, of course).

Contragts for your new portable, enjoy it also on my behalf!

Nice machine! as to the varnish over the label, one of my colonial machines is like that. It clearly came out of the factory in that condition (no revarnishing), so I suspect it is a process change after the labels started to crumble during the initial production. I also have one that came with a HMV4 in a very similar condition to the one in the photo. It was so jammed I could not unscrew its back, and gave up. I just replaced it with another nr 4 in good shape.

The ivory handle is a curiosity, but if you are not satisfied with its looks or if you are against the ivory trade, it is easy to get a replacement handle with the original wood handle.

Just to add my 2 cents worth and I speak only from own experience - Regarding varnishing, this is a bit confusing when it comes to India. There is a common practice of antique sellers adding a layer of varnish to old wood to make it "shine" a bit. It could be a bed or a radiogram or a picture frame. But the dealer will slap some varnish before displaying it in the shop. And its not just antique dealers. You go to buy a new bed and the seller will proudly tell you that he will re-varnish the factory-made item at no extra cost if you decide to buy.

And there's the HMV Calcutta factory itself that probably sent out many machines with no extra varnish and also probably sent out machines with a coat or two. This is of course a complete assumption made simply on the basis on how cabinet makers in India operate.

Either way, lovely machine. Congrats!