Hemingway and Thomas piano

[Brian Lawson, RPT]

"London N.W." is North West, the early postal description of an area in London. Either "Hemingway & Thomas was a dealer or a manufacture in the area

"upright iron grand" - Marketing term, for a large upright

[Bill Kibby]

"London NW" indicates that the piano (or its address transfer) is before 1917, when suffix numbers were added, such as NW1. HEMINGWAY & THOMAS, London, seem to have been at Lewis Street, Kentish Town NW from about 1875 to 1907, judging by directory entries in my London lists. Their piano #7,541 with original brass name, is dated 17/9/1902 on the keys, and the action was imported from Driver & Toepfler, Neuschfeld, Germany, with the number 52,021. Press the "Aliases" button at the PianoGen website...

[Bill Kibby]

All I can guarantee without being there is that is unlikely to be a valuable antique, although many americans have more appreciation of victorian pianos than the british. If 1831 was mentioned on the piano, it would probably be either the date the firm was established, or the date of an exhibition medal they received. If it is London NW, it is probably after 1860, and I have no specific details on them before 1880. If you could email some photos to me, I might learn more.

[Virtus82]

Hi Guys
I'm from Italy (Rome) and my family has got an Hemingway & Thomas Londo N.W. Upright Iron grand.
So was it made from 1875 up to 1907? How can I be sure of the exact year?
How many of them were produced?
And finally how much is worth?
Thank you very much and ciao!!

[Bill Kibby]

Nobody can tell you the value from here, it needs to be inspected and tuned, but unrestored Victorian pianos are worth very little here in Britain, and I am offered several for nothing each year, to save them from destruction.

I can't tell you the date without photos of the whole piano, and information from the piano.