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I don't quite know what Bluthner's got to do with it Barrie, it's a Challen! The Royal Appointment is not for that particular individual piano, it was awarded to the makers, and I believe in this instance it was the King of Spain. The number suggests 1932. Press www below, then press Archives. Datem...

I can tell you that Sharples first appears in my lists from the early 1900s, and Reinhardt, Berlin made pianos around 1903. If I find out any more, I'll get back to you, otherwise press www below.

Is it a big tipper? Press www below, then press Archives.

The number suggests 1909, which fits in with the date on the medal. I can quote to supply printed general information on the firm, but it is currently being revised and extended. They became limited around 1895, but such name changes are rarely instnant or all-consuming.

Yes, I am sure I can help to some extent, although early serial numbers can be misleading anyway. Press www below, or email me.

The number suggests 1900.

The number suggests 1918, but very little is published about Carlisle. Strangely, their numbers cover the period around 1911, when Alfred Dolge doesn't list them as makers.

Press www below, then press the Valuation button, or read the item at the top of the forum.

Most pianos are mass-produced with the same name, so we would need a bit more information to try to date it. Click on www below, and press some buttons.

Shenstones, established in 1870, were unable to help me with any piano information when I spoke to them in the 1970s. By then, they were just a television shop in Leytonstone, and seemed unaware of the existence of any archive information, although some is listed in the National Register of Archives...

You say "dated", do you mean that it actually has the date 1839 on it? I would have thought about 1842 for that number. Your tuner will be the person to advise you about the loose pins, and the normal method is a a larger pin. As for valuation, see my notes below, and Barrie's at the top o...

Yes, his "Arpicembalo" was listed among the instruments in 1698, it is believed to have had hammers, dampers and expressive touch, but was perhaps different in some way.

Phew! There is no short answer to all those questions, but yes, Cristofori did invent the "gravicembalo (harpsichord) col piano e forte" around 1707, and it was first documented in 1709. You say "so many different stories" so I presume you are talking about all the rubbish on the...

I didn't mean you got the the number wrong, it's just not a reliable way of dating the piano. Why not email me, or send some photos.

It's a UK site, why would they be listed? As it is, I deal with over twenty thousand piano names, and it would be impossible to list them all on the net, most piano names are not available on any site. The number suggests 1889, and they didn't stop then.

The name is Kaps, and the published numbers can be misleading, as indeed can most numbers. Look at the Numbers item at pianogen.org for general information. I could tell you more from photos, but you need an on-the-spot inspection by a tuner-technician, ideally one who is interested in antique instr...

No serial number dates are available for this maker, indeed I haven't seen any information at all in the usual textbooks. Press www below, and press some buttons on my site for general information. You could email photos, but no specific information is available about Maliwanek.

The published numbers are wrong, and I estimate 1889. If the action is narked Brooks Ltd. on the rear of the hammer rail, they became Ltd. around 1891.

I think I wrote to you before? This is not the date of the piano, it was a medal awarded to the firm at the exhibition. Press www below, and press some of my buttons!

I've seen the name sometimes, but I don't know anything useful about them. Surpisingly enough, it means "Prize medal awarded for general excellence, London 1862"! That was the London Exhibition which followed the Great Exhibition. They received the medal, and the piano is after that year. ...

Yes, but unfortunately, being more into pianos than computers, there is so much unnecessary junk on the screen most of the time, I don't know what half of it is, and life forunately provides more exciting challenges than pressing every button on every website to see what it does! Explanations, when ...

Type pianohistory.info in the address bar, and you'll find my website. Press ALL the buttons, especially datemarks, and these may help. If you send photos, these will also help, but there is no guarantee of finding a precise date.

In 1886, Sandon & Steedman were at 35 Drummond Street NW & Chalton Street, Somers Town NW. Smoothy was not listed then, but was by 1899. Oddly enough, S&S weren't then!

Have you pressed the Aliases button on the PianoGen website? It explains some of the most common processes.

I'm intrigues! Technically, an "antique" would be earlier than a player piano. It would be nice to see the photos. which you can email to the PianoGen website.

I can tell you that he was around in 1911 and 1928, but I have no useful information on him yet.

This particular Payne, T.& G. Payne, was established in London, 1892, not 1891. Circa 1906, They became a limited company. By the thirties, they had moved to Kentish Town.

This particular Payne, T.& G. Payne, was established in London, 1892. Circa 1906, They became a limited company. By the thirties, they had moved to Kentish Town.

This being the UK piano site, it's hardly surprising that we are not well-versed in american pianos, so we can only quote what there is in reference books, and nothing is available about the styles or models.

I take you are not the lady who just phoned me, or her brother who emailed about Hickie? In 1886, they were Hickie & Son. From at least 1894 Hickie & Hickie. By 1936 Hickie & Hickie Ltd. Still there 1951, so you can see that the name doesn't help. Circa 1920 Piano #13,234 bears the name ...

Yes, but are you talking about an actual grand turned vertically, or simply an average old upright with "Upright Grand" written on the front?

I probably have more on Payne than anyone else, but I don't post all my work on the net for free!

I was quoted 40 pounds. A book is in preparation. As for Clementi, look at the Archives item at PianoGen.org - This tells the situation with Clementi's successors, Collard.

Put simply, if it is George Steck, the numbers don't help. Otherwise, there are still major problems between the Hayes and Gotha factories, do you know where it was built? These numbers don't match any I have.

Julian Dyer has written an article somewhere on the net about the many problems with the published numbers for Steck, and I have said repeatedly that numbers in general are often misleading. Press the numbers button on the PianoGen site. The frame was cast in 1929, the piano completed up to 6 years ...

Briefly, Cristofori's first pianos were known as "gravicembalo col piano e forte" - literally harpsichord with (roughly speaking) soft and loud. They were never harpsichords, except in exterior appearance. After his death, piano making only survived through the efforts of the german "...

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find anyone who does with viennese pianos what I do with british ones, and unless the textbooks list a firm, I have no funds for nipping over to Austria to do research! Photos can tell me a lot about the instrument, but very little about the maker.

I am a piano historian, I can certainly help you with historical infiormation about the Kirkman firm, or compile a report from photos of the piano, but VALUATION IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT ON-THE-SPOT INSPECTION!!

When you say he'd never seen anything like it, in what way? Was it a Quadruplex? (Triple Overstringing.) There seem to have been 4 firms called Neumeyer, I have seen pianos and information around 1882-1920, and I could tell you more from photos, via the PianoGen website.

If it costs you very little, why not go for it! You'd have to drill two hundred holes precisely in the right places, at precisely the right angles, and then it still needs restringing though, and a professional will still charge the same, because he is doing the same work as he would with the old pl...

Yes, I'm afraid that's what usually signals the end of a piano, when it needs repinning and restringing. Central heating is often a major factor, but age comes into it too, and the quality of the original plank.

I'm afraid Brian's lost the plot here, this is a genuine, actual, real-life Upright Grand, (a grand placed upright) as made by Clementi, probably in the 1820s or 1830s. Why did they lose popularity? How would you like to have a nine-foot tall piano? It's as simple as that, and the height became unne...

Kembles didn't exist then. A couple of loose pins shouldn't be used as an excuse to have the pitvh so low, just replace the pins! I could tell you more from photos, and I presume you have checked for datemarks, key and action makers' marks etc.?

Warwick piano 13,900 was thought to be around 1920, Wagstaffs sold them, and this is probably an alias for a piano made by a wholesaler. See the Aliases button on the PianoGen.

As Barrie says, most pianos are mass-produced, but I am sitting next to one which may be the only surviving example by its maker, but that doesn't give it value, I saved it from the crematorium! I can compile a report from photos via the PianoGen website.

I don't have anything ready on computer about Thalberg, it may be an alias. Can you tell me any more? You can email photos to me, or go to the PianoGen website and press some buttons.

Thanks. The fact that it is rosewood and straight-strung doesn't help much, I would need detailed photos to compile a report. I would have thought that it would be a fairly advanced action by 1902.

A. Taylor was established in 1890, and was Taylor & Son by 1914. They were a limited company by 1922.

When you say "I am not certain what it is exactly", what exactly? Patent details can be researched by quoting the number to the Patent Office, but it may not help you learn any more about your piano.

My uncle had a Normelle piano which he was told was made in France, but despite suggestions that they are french or italian, these are definitely british pianos, made by Spencer- Murdoch, London. Many were sold by Barnes, London. The published numbers for Murdoch are unreliable, but they can often b...

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