UK Piano Page Piano Forum

As it says at the top of the forum, nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition of a piano without inspecting it on the spot, and checking how well it holds in tune, so your local tuner is the best person to ask about that. Here in Britain, where antique pianos are plentiful, unrestored ones ha...

This has nothing to do with Hopkinson, you will get better results if you post it as a NEW TOPIC.

I explained when you emailed me 4 times that I do not understand your English, so I do not know what you want to know.

If you write to me in your own language, I will translate it.

The certificate of authenticity was quite normal, my Names page at pianohistory.info mentions them, but I haven't come across the other part connecting it with Henry Wood. It almost seems to imply that he checked the piano himself, and then signed it. One imagines he may have had better things to do...

They certainly turned out some of these little Student Pianos around 1920, but I am not convinced they made them, some of their pianos were made by Challen, Cramer and others. I will see what I can find out. There is a slight possibility that it was the 22nd piano made in 1943. Imagine - Pierce didn...

Have a look at my Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html which explains that serial numbers are usually 5 or 6 digits long, so 1157 is not it, although most pianos have several numbers inside, and we can't always say what they all mean, and it seems too big to be a model number. 1924...

Apart from the new uprights, I am not aware of a past piano firm named Woodchester, but Woodchester in Stroud was the home of the Stroud Piano Co., later known as Bentley, so I imagine the name was used by them.

I have no idea what happened to your first reply, but we didn't see it.

The easiest way is to email photos to me and I will post them for you.

Did you look at Google Images?

Normally, there is a knob on each side, and you simply turn them both together. I can't picture the device you describe, so photos might help.#

It's worth searching google images for adjustable piano stool.

Hime & Addison were dealers from the late 1800s onwards.

It looks like something from the 1890s, and that number suggests that it may be from around 1897. Have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html

My Numbers page http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html explains that it often not as simple as it seems to date a piano purely on the basis of numbers, #62105 suggests that it may have been made around 1890, but are there any other numbers in there? Please tell us the exact, complete wording of t...

Thanks but I have no dealings with facebook, it won't let me view the photos. Any chance you could email them to me? The links all seem to be the same. And could you show me what the WHOLE piano looks like, that is often more useful than interior details. To quote the main page on my own website, no...

If anyone in England wants to donate non-upright pianos, or pre-victorian instruments, including clavichord or harpichord, I would be pleased to hear from you. It is difficult to find interesting developments at the modern end of things, and we would like to find a Kemble portable in any state.

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...