Collard & Collard Cottage Grand

[Tony Ashforth]

As discussed in the general forum, I am replacing my Collard & Collard with a new Boston Steinway. I have already posted my "for sale" advert on your "Pianos for Sale - General Public" site, together with a Photo, but wonder whether you can give me any guide as to value. I bought the piano privately some 10 years ago. It was described to me as a "Cottage Grand" and was inspected by my then piano tuner (who incidentally is the great grandson of the Stodart piano manufacturer). It is approx 6ft 1in long and straight strung on an iron frame. Until about three years ago it was tuned to concert pitch but is now tuned down a semi-tone as some of the pins are wearing loose. It is tuned twice a year and holds tuning reasonably well between tunings. About 7 years ago I had the action rebuilt by my piano tuner which considerably improved performance. It has a particularly nice bass tone and is in fully working order. It gets played for between 1 and 3 Hours a day and has given a lot of pleasure. When I bought the piano my tuner checked the serial number and confirmed its year of manufacture as approx 1901. It has a Rosewood case (some minor damage to veneer in places) an attractive fretwork music stand and octagonal legs. Most of the strings are I believe original.
I am not looking for top dollar but would rather sell to someone who is going to continue to enjoy the piano for a reasonable price. Can you offer any advice?
I can provide further photos if required - the one provided on your for sale site is not the best quality as you understanably restrict the file size and hence the definition possible.

[Bill Kibby]

This forum is really for historical enquiries. Read Barrie's comments at the top of the forum, then press www below, and when you see my PianoGen website, press "Appraisal".