Cherepashka

a reed instrument equipped with a single keyboard; a type of small, diatonic accordion. The cherepashka was popular in the late 19th century and in the 1920’s. It has from two to six keys on the right headboard and two on the left. The body is up to 70 mm in height. The scale is diatonic, and the sound produced can be altered by changing the movement of the bellows. Reconstructed variants of the cherepashka include the P. E. Nevskii cherepashka, which has chromatic semitones added, and the V. S. Varshavskii cherepashka, which produces a full chromatic scale on the right headboard (up to ten keys) and a bass chord accompaniment on the left.