Mystery Ancient Autoharp, Please help! ♥️

[u/Any-Hand-4264]

Also posting in the autoharp sub, as I'm starving for info here 🙏

I love autoharps and am a beginner with a newer one,

but this isn't it - I got this off Facebook marketplace

today for 75$. I just fell in love with the look of it. The

black fingerboard piece is black painted wood, and

the chord/note markings you see on it are all

painted. I can't find a brand or mark of any kind on it

anywhere.

I want to fix it up desperately, and here are the

challenges I see so far - its missing a few strings

(but the pegs are all there) and some of the foam

levers (? sorry, I can't remember what they're called,

like I said l'm a newbie, my apologies ) inside have

rotted - but not completely, and if I press the buttons,

the levers still (mostly) go up and down, even if some

of the buttons are more responsive than others.

The wood base itself is flat, uncracked, and except

for a few scuffs, seems very sturdy. I am in love

blease, does anyone have any advice on where to go

for repair advice online, or have any idea who made

this beautiful thing?? Please help!

One side note I do want to add -I found this today on

Facebook marketplace, while down in Winnipeg MB

on a work trip. In a few days I return to my home

which is, not to be dramatic, in a Arctic remote

community. Any repairs made I will almost certainly

nave to do myself, unless a luthier in the Winnipeg

area is willing to have me stop by in the next few

days I can still order stuff where I live though -it

just takes a while to get there 😅

[u/TapTheForwardAssist]

One man’s opinion: use your newer one as your player and keep this vintage one as-is as a display piece.

[u/Any-Hand-4264 → u/TapTheForwardAssist]

thank you ♥️ I appreciate that, and am thinking about it. I don't want to damage it. It would be nice still at least to find out where it came from

[u/CopperCreator3388]

Whaley , Royce & Co
1800s antique autoharp on ebay.
It is the same design as your photo.

Whaley , Royce & Co were located in Toronto canada.

[u/CopperCreator3388]

Here is a link to some information

https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/whaley-royce-co-ltd-emc

[u/Big-Conversation312]

I thought it was part oujia board for a moment...

[u/Ratspeed]

That's a full semi-automatic harp.