Latest news with #KenHopkins
BBC News
21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Collecting accordions became my dad's obsession'
Known to many throughout Europe as "the accordion man" – Ken Hopkins from County Down dedicated decades of his life to collecting and restoring the the time of his death last year, he had amassed what is thought to be one of the largest private collections of accordions in the collection contains everything from early 19th century flutinas, up to the digital models of about 750 of them are going under the hammer at a Belfast auction house priced from £10 up to a potential £5, of the more unusual items in the collection include an accordion coffee table and television, and an instrument rumoured to have been used to smuggle cash out of Colombia. Family home was 'like an accordion museum' Ken Hopkins' daughter Lisa Allen said the instruments had become an "obsession" for her father."He was a musician himself, an incredible accordionist, and he was well renowned throughout the accordion world, playing in bands for decades," she said."He started purchasing accordions, going to shows and auctions and it just escalated."He absolutely loved accordions and it became an obsession." Mr Hopkins fell in love with the accordion at a young age, and met his first wife when her father gave him instrument shaped his life. Ms Allen said there were accordions lining every room of her father's Comber took five truck loads to move them from the property to Ross's Auction House in Belfast."The house was just absolutely packed with them, five bedrooms upstairs with no room for anything else other than accordions," she said."You would arrive and there would be a coachload of people parading up and down just looking at the collection so it was like an accordion museum." 'I can't play a note' Despite growing up around accordions, neither Lisa nor her siblings inherited her father's musical capabilities and after realising they did not have the space to house the collection, the decision was taken to sell it. "It's bittersweet to see it go but I haven't a note in my head," Ms Allen said."I've had all the piano lessons, singing lessons, guitar lessons and we've had some amazing musicians at the house, bands in the living room, but I can't play a note."Music has really been a part of our lives, every birthday, every Christmas, every celebration but they need to be played."They should be played and it'll be lovely to think they'll be at somebody else's birthday, playing Happy Birthday and bring more joy."As they say, the music will go on." Angus Clarke, managing director of Ross's Auctions, said sorting through the instruments had been a "mammoth task from start to finish"."It's very unusual to have a collection of this size," he said."We believe it to be the largest private collection of accordions in the world so it's not every day you get something through the door just like this."The sheer volume of accordions themselves – picking them up, the storage facilities for them has been a bit of a handling."Also we've had to educate ourselves a lot on accordions, it's been a great challenge."We've had people from all around the world getting in touch, it's amazing how many of them know about the auction. "In particular people in eastern Europe - they have a deep-rooted musical traditional with accordions."It's a bit of an unknown but early indications suggest the auction might realise upwards of £250,000." Ms Allen said her dad would have loved the attention his collection was getting."He would love all this. He was really a showman and he enjoyed entertaining people so he would love to see how people are reacting to the collection."We've had people from Italy, America, just all over the world getting in touch. "Everyone knows dad and the collection and there are a lot of people who just want one of his accordions – nothing in particular just a piece of the Ken Hopkins collection which is nice."They've been telling us stories about him, and about some of the accordions and it's been lovely to know he was so well thought of."The rarity of Mr Hopkins' collection saw him targeted by robberies at his home a decade apart he lost accordions worth several hundred thousands of 2012, 12 of the stolen rare instruments where recovered on wasteland in County Meath in the Republic of at the time, Mr Hopkins told the BBC the thefts were something "you got used to".The Ken Hopkins Accordion Collection auction ends on August 6
Irish Independent
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Vast ‘Accordion Man' collection goes under hammer in Belfast, ranging from rare antiques to mass-produced concertinas
Co Down man Ken Hopkins repaired, refurbished, tuned and sold accordions for more than 30 years Today at 00:30 Ken Hopkins was known as 'The Accordion Man.' When he died in November 2024, he left an extraordinary legacy. His house in Comber, Co Down, was entirely filled with accordions. Some were interesting and some were valuable, but their state of repair varied widely. Hopkins' knowledge had died with him, which made it hard for his inheritors to sort through the collection. In December 2024, his son-in-law posted on The Accordionists' Forum, asking for advice: 'I always knew he was a serious collector, but at last count we had close to 800 examples from all over the world.' For more than 30 years, Ken Hopkins Accordion and Music Services in Belfast had repaired, refurbished, tuned and sold accordions. Hopkins also worked a day job as a boiler serviceman. His entire collection of accordions is going under the hammer at Ross's in Belfast on Wednesday, July 23, beginning at 11am. It ranges from rare antiques and potential museum pieces to modern mass-produced accordions. There were accordions everywhere! 'We were astounded by the sheer number of instruments, all in his private house,' says Daniel Clarke of Ross's. 'There were accordions everywhere!' His colleague, Alec Grant, was given the job of cataloguing the sale. 'The amount of room the accordions take up is quite overwhelming,' he says. 'So is the breadth of the collection. There are accordions here that people have never seen one like it before.' The highest estimated accordion in the sale is a Ballone Burini (Lot 7: est £2,000 to £5,000 / €2,320 to €5,600), but there are many instruments with £10 to £20 / €12 to €23 estimates, some of which are beautiful objects. 'The condition varies a lot,' Grant explains. 'With accordions, the way to accurately assess value is based on the condition of the internals.' The extent of the collection – and the fact that the last accordion repairman had died – made it hard to value the instruments. 'We've had to catalogue the collection with no guarantee of condition or playability.' We've had several musicians come in and play them The solution, if you're local, is to go to the auction house and try out the instruments in person. 'We've had several musicians come in and play them,' Grant says. 'But please bring a list of the lots you're interested in, as it may take us a while to find them.' The collection is too vast and unwieldy to have everything on display. 'We've also had a lot of overseas interest from the US, Australia and Switzerland.' Highlights include a Dari Constellation accordion, made in Italy, with hand-painted reed blocks (Lot 93: est £800 to £1,000 / €930 to €1,160). 'The internal components have illustrations painted on them,' Grant explains. 'It's artisanally created and very rare.' ADVERTISEMENT A concertina made in the UK by Lachenal & Co (Lot 725: est £200 to £300 / €230 to €350) is also a rarity. The company was founded by a Swiss immigrant, and made concertinas between 1850 and 1936. It comes in its original case and appears to be made for Vaudeville performances, as it can make interesting sounds including duck calls and whistles. A Settimio Soprani Concert Grand accordion (Lot 100: est £300 to £400 / €350 to €460) was once owned by Gerald Bright (1904-1974). Known as Geraldo, Bright was a popular British bandleader in the 1930s and 1940s. The instrument is one of only six ever made. 'It's hard to put a value on it,' Grant says. 'It's very rare, but I'm not sure how much that affects its value.' Most of the interest to date has been in button accordions – the type commonly played in Ireland. On two occasions, Hopkins was the victim of burglary. In 2012, 30 rare and vintage accordions, worth €24,570 – €36,855, were stolen from his home. Reportedly, he was duped into leaving his house in by two men who said they wanted to buy an accordion. The men failed to meet him, and Hopkins returned to discover the theft. Twelve of the missing accordions were found, slightly damaged, in Co Meath, and returned to Hopkins. The others were not recovered. Ten years later, thieves struck again. In March 2022, 11 accordions with an estimated value of €40,500 were stolen from Hopkins' home. Hopkins told BBC News NI he did not expect to see the accordions again, and said the thefts were something 'you got used to'. Given the scope of his collection, it's remarkable the burglars were able to locate valuable and resalable instruments within a short time frame. See
