Bechstein piano

Ask questions on piano history and the age of your piano.

Moderators: Feg, Gill the Piano, Bill Kibby

Post Reply
pianogirl540
New Member
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: 16 Aug 2020, 16:10

Bechstein piano

Post by pianogirl540 »

I have inherited an old 'C. Bechstein' piano and looking to date it. I understand it's about 1940s and is a baby (about 4'8 or so) and made in London. It's serial is 238477, but that isn't a serial that is in the atlas. Any clues?
User avatar
Bill Kibby
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 5684
Joined: 04 Jun 2003, 19:25
Location: Lincolnshire UK
Contact:

Re: Bechstein piano

Post by Bill Kibby »

When you say "baby" do you mean a baby grand? If this number appears on the front edge of the soundboard, near the treble end, it is a separate sequence, known as a belly number. A few of these are shown at
http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html
and suggest a date around 1903. There should be another long number in several places, and removable parts such as the music desk may be imprinted with that number, or the last 3 digits of it.
I have several different "atlases" but they don't have all the answers.
Piano History Centre
http://pianohistory.info
Email via my website.
If you find old references or links on this site to pianogen.org, they should refer to pianohistory.info
Post Reply