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Charles J. Vincent was based in Sunderland, does that seem likely?

Posting it under two separate headings creates a lot of confusion, so please stick to replying on this one so we can help you. The number suggests that it was made in 1910, but my Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is oft...

Thanks for showing us what it looks like. Under the keyboard is the tuning flap. If you open it, there should be a serial number at the lefthand end, imprinted in the wood. Can you tell me what it is? My experience of these is that although they can fetch a few hundred pounds, they often raise very ...

I have no idea what BJ350 means!

I can find no record of any music or piano firms with this unusual spelling, but there is a tuner named WIlliam Gilligan listed in 1891, the more usual spelling.

He is also listed in my Post Office London Directory for 1892, still as a pianoforte tuner.

The only other clue I have so far is that they were known as George Russell AND COMPANY by 1886, so the piano is probably before that, and after 1880, so the mean date would be "circa 1883".

The key coverings are ivory. Thanks for the photos, the most important one for me is the one that shows what the whole piano looks like. This is a Victorian Cottage Piano, as described at http://www.pianohistory.info/victorian.html These are the most common surviving Victorian pianos, and I spend a ...

Normally, you should be able to just open the top and look inside to find numbers, there may be more than one. My Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is not always as simple as it seems, and if you can post photos here to ...

The tuning dates are often a good clue, I would have put the Lexow number around 1903, but that's close enough. I know very little about C. Otto. The main number seems to be 14509, but it doesn't line up with Carl Otto's numbers.

Sounds like a question you should ask Broadwoods. I confess that in all the piano specifications I have on file, I rarely mention the colour of the frame. If I had realised that it would be important to anyone, I would have added the colour to my list of details.

You don't give the number. There were several piano and music firms named Wegner in the twenties, in Germany and Austria, but the American ones were (as you say) made by Kreiter, Milwaukee. They were established in 1896, so I don't know what 1885 is about, perhaps it is just a number. It's unlikely ...

I found the retailer, his name was Haigh. The following information suggests that he doesn't seem to have started until the 1890s, but it simply means he was not listed in directories, and we have to assume that he sold it new in the 1870s, because it says "made for", and the serial number suggests ...

There are very few published dates for Becker serial numbers, and they don't always agree with each other. Someone calling himself Finland_tuner says he has dates of numbers. Perhaps you can find him on the internet. Around a century ago, there was a fad for dressing up pianos to look as if they wer...

This is a history forum, we don't reject pianos just because they don't conform to modern specifications. Most of the pianos in my piano history museum (under construction) will not conform, but if you like the piano, and want to keep it, you will probably spend more on tuning than it is worth. Some...

I am amazed that so much space is devoted to a click in a piano, when a tuner on the spot should be able to sort it out. How can we guess what it is from here?

I wouldn't say it was normal practice, and many pianos are modernised with no thought for history, but it seems likely that whoever did the job bought a set of number punches and made it more authentic... Or were they being devious and trying to make it seem original? I would have thought that the l...

Now that I can see the photos, it obviously is a Same S piano. Unfortunately, no serial number dates are available for these, but I would guess it was made around 1921, around the time of their factory fire. I have no prices for Sames around that time, but in the twenties some of their uprights were...

Sorry, I don't understand, what do you mean by "same piano"? Is it made by William Sames?

I'm sorry to say you have very little hope of learning anything from that name. I have a Hofmann upright, English Edwardian, but grands are usually difficult to date by appearance. The photos are such low resolution I can't see any useful detail. There were over 40 piano and music firms called Hofma...

My Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html has a list for Gors & Kallmann, and says... 1934 Challen pianos were being made in London at the Brasted factory, with the “Gors & Kallmann” name on them, and numbers in the 120,000 range, which do not correspond to serial numbers for Gors & ...

My Numbers page
http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html
explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems.

Now that most of our pianos are in place in the museum space, I really don't want to be driving a big van around, but I need to have the option of picking up or delivering ONE piano, and that's where I want to pick the brains of any of you who are in the piano trade. Suzukipickup850.jpg I used to dr...

That should be 1938, but there is probably a label on the key-frame. I played one in a local pub, and found that I was playing it on its 80th birthday!

Having spent over ten years planning layouts for buildings that never happened, it is a strange feeling to be actually standing in a large museum time-line space, and not only shifting actual pianos around, (rather than drawings on a screen) but also doing building work, and trying my best to compre...

I realise this is not a grand, but is it a Becker? If not, you should post it again as a NEW TOPIC or you won't get much response. Please tell us any names and information you can find, and also have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

I'm sorry your post has been overlooked, but it has nothing to do with the heading, and you would stand more chance of useful responses if you post it again as a new topic. The comments above about piano names probably apply to Chepstow as well, but I will check to see if I can find anything about t...

I don't know what happened to the original enquiry, but I do know that Sharples sold SCHONEBECKE, Berlin pianos, probably in Edwardian times. (Not Schonenbecke or Schonebeck.)However, I have no details about this name, and it may be another example of genuinely German pianos being sold here with fak...

The link I sent you explains that numbers on keys are hardly ever helpful. K4 is the model, I have no idea about T 82.

If there is no marking on the sides of the bottom keys, or underneath them, I have no other suggestions.

Does anyone out there know where we could find the serial number?

1935~Knight946u.jpg This picture was sent to me years ago, said to be 1930s. When you uncovered the keys, did you have a look at http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html I don't believe this is the serial number, it is not where I expect to find it, and it doesn't seem a suitable range either. H...

Most British pianos have 85 notes and 2 pedals. My Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems. There are some Knight dates near the bottom of that page. FInding just one number does not guarante...

You would have better chance of responses if you posted this again as a new topic, it has nothing to do with the Holland heading.

Lyres are a very common idea in pianos but I have not been able to identify this one so far

We are definitely still around, although the original post that I was answering seems to have disappeared. There are quite a few Kirchner pianos around, mostly in New Zealand, but I don't believe it is a real maker's name. My Names page http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html explains that fake Germ...

Pianos don't usually work with transplanted parts. Makers who used Kohler actions include Stolle, Marschner, Rosetti, Ramsperger, Hardt, Schumann, Neufeld, Hofman. As always, it may help if you could post a photo that shows me what the WHOLE piano looks like, but my Grands page http://www.pianohisto...

You would have a much better chance of useful responses if you post this enquiry as a new topic, because it has nothing to do with Rubinstein. My Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html explains that dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is not always as simple as it seems. Pub...

This should really be posted as a new topic, because it has nothing to do with the heading. I had an enquiry about this piano in 2016 from someone called Rose. I can only estimate 1910-13 based on the number. Can you post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like? Or email them to me?

Is it really a letter S before the 4659? This would not be a serial number, probably a stock number for a retailer whose initial is S. As explained above, dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems. Can you post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like...

Did you have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

That's not on this website, it's mine.

If you have a look at my Edwardian page http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html you will see that there were thousands of similar pianos made in the first decade of the 1900s, and Brinsmeads were not usually different in any obvious way to the others, apart from occasional special designs. If yo...

So where did Brinsmead come into it?

You would have a better chance of responses if you posted this as a new topic, with the proper name of the piano as the heading, rather than replying to a string of posts about Steck. I can't do that for you. No dates of Marr Wood piano numbers are published, and I don't even know off the top of my ...

If there is no name, where did the idea come from that it was a John Brinsmead piano? It looks like a typical Edwardian piano, the cheap German action (the working parts of the notes) was imported from Germany before the 1914 war, and may be marked on the rear with the action makers name and number....

The name is a distraction, Cross was the retailer, and he does not appear in my lists in the 1800s, but by 1911, the firm was Robert Cross & Co., and by 1914 it was Robert Cross & Son. They were still there in 1951. My Names page http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html explores the use of terms like...

No luck with Parsons yet, but Patent No.22236 indicates that the piano was made by the wholesaler Bansall. This began to appear around 1895, which confuses the issue, because their numbers then were around 22,000. If you look inside the top of the piano for other numbers, I may be able to date it. 6...

Parsons#60681Plymouth_forum217u.jpg Like most of the pianos that arrive here, this appears to be a typical Edwardian upright, as described on my Edwardian page http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html It could just about be late 1890s, but there is not enough information to be precise. As far as...

You would have to ask Broadwoods, that seems about the right period, but why does it matter what colour the frame is?

Hi! My Names page http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html explains that many piano names are meaningless, and it was quite common to write "London" on them even when they were not real makers, and not in London. Millard London pianos were sold by various dealers around the country, but I have so far...

So am I! Any pianos of that age I find in England will be put in my museum, which is currently under construction, so I am sorry I am not much help to you.

It's unlikely to be John, is it Steinberg & Sohn, Berlin? I have no details about them, or dates of numbers.

This looks like a typical Edwardian piano, as shown on my Edwardian page at http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html Sherborne was bankrupt in the 1870s, but came back, and the business was still going in 1928. No dates of serial numbers are available, and as far as I am aware, he was only a deal...

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