Brietman piano

[mpt]

Has anyone heard of a "Brietman" piano? The only details I can find from the piano are the words "Brietman" and "Hart & Churchill, Belfast" and the number 794830. I would like to know how old this piano might be (we bought it second-hand approx 30 years ago) and also a rough idea as to its value. Is anyone able to help?? Many Thanks

[Bill Kibby]

All I can tell you at the moment is that Hart & Churchill were there before the 1914 war, and still there up to the second world war, but apparently didn't survive after that.

[upright]

Hart & Churchill was on Wellington Place in Belfast and was still there in 1966 when I visited Belfast.

As I recall, I walked "up" Donegall Place and turned right at the City Hall into Wellington Place. Hart & Churchill was on the left between the City Hall and Great Victoria Street. It stuck in my mind because as a child my parent owned a piano with the name under the lid: "Hart & Churchill Wellington Place Belfast"

A tour of Belfast on Google Earth reveals that H & C is no longer there. Also, it appears that this side of Wellington Place has been redeveloped.

[Bill Kibby]

I am assuming that you have got the spelling wrong, and it is Brietmann. A 1937 Kemble piano has the name Brietmann, London on the fall, and the registered design numbers 800114 and 794830. Kemble pianos can normally be dated by a serial number which is preceded by the letter K.

1958 is thought to be the date of a Brietmann piano sold by W.R.Swan, Manchester.