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Firslty, I have no idea what you mean by "Buffet Piano", is this a normal term wherever you are in the world? Because there are no photos, I can't guess what sort of piano it is, but pianos don't usually have hidden levers, they may have a lock that you open with a key. Can you send photos...

Names like Hofman, Hoffman, Hoffmann, Hofmann, Haufmann and Hauptmann can be found on many old pianos, and although some of these may be real makers' names, some are certainly fake.

Bill@pianohistory.info

Thanks Barrie, but I avoid facebook because of all the abuse from people who don't think musicians should expect to be paid!

I have no answers to this, it looks like artistic license, just like the keys, I don't think this is a special keyboard, it's a bad artist.

Mt Numbers page at pianohistor.info gives dates for Erard's London pianos, which were very different to the Paris numbers. I think that 10703 is about 1869.

Earky forms of plastic were in use by the 1860s. This was not, of course, about saving elephants, it was to compensate for the shortage of dead elephants.

Never take it to seriously when someone tells you only so-many were made.
This sounds like a symmetrical grand, there were a number of makers producing them, including Ascherberg, Ecke Hoffman, and Ibach.

As it says at the top of the forum, nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition without inspecting it on the spot and testing to see how well it holds in tune, so your local tuner is the best person to ask.

Like many products you may buy today, names on the front of pianos are often meaningless anyway.
The 214 mark tends to be found in the early 1920s, and this seems a possible sort of date from what I can see.
If you are lucky there may be a label under the keys of the bottom notes..

Names like Hofman, Hoffman, Hoffmann, Hofmann, Haufmann and Hauptmann can be found on many old pianos, and although some of these may be real makers' names, some are certainly fake. There were over 20 different firms with variations of this name. There were at least 17 different firms with the spell...

The D'Almaine firms were going strong in London in the 1800s, I have one from about 1846, and the name continued into the 1900s. The Minipiano was invented in 1934, based on earlier models, bu this one is based on that thirties mini style. This side of the ocean, "Spinet" is a type of harp...

Firstly, you don't say what era? Square grands were an American thing, the English and European square pianos were often smaller, lighter and cheaper for ordinary homes. Dettmer was at Upper Marylebone Stret (Mary-Le-Bone Street) from about 1808. English square pianos were dying out in the 1860s, bu...

Unfortunately, the photos are not of good enough quality for me to read the details. Most grands of the 1900s are impossible to date by their appearance, because they are so similar, as I expain on my Grands page at pianohistory.info Your best hope is to look at the labels, write down everything the...

Brinsmead received the cross of the legion d'honneur in 1878, the information appeared on hundreds or thousands of pianos for years after.

The dealer's name suggests something like 1920-1921.

As far as I can discover, nobody ever made anything called a "Ship's Piano", this was probably a Yacht Piano, or a Patent Portable Piano, but I can't see what it looks like. The portable has nothing below keyboard level. More information may be found in my Georgian page on my pianohistory ...

Nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition of a piano without inspecting it on the spot, and testing to see how well it holds in tune, so your local tuner is the best person to ask. The abbreviation "Ltd." was almost non-existent until 1900. Nield was around from about the 1880s to t...

This is a typical victorian Cottage Piano, perhaps around the 1860s. Have a look at the Victorian page on my pianohistory website.
Can you give us the complete, exact wording of the name and address?
Related to the famous writer, Henry was the main piano maker in the family.

With regard to the Spencer 29178, this number suggests that it is from 1899, but the published numbers are not entirely accurate, this is my estimate.
Because there are so many old posts in this batch, you would get better results if you posted it as a NEW TOPIC.

I have already dealt with this enquiry before. The C&S number is not the Spencer serial number, it is a stock number for the retailers - Crane & Sons. All it tells me is that is was sold after 1894. If you open the top of the piano and look inside, in the area by the tuning pins, there shoul...

Howlett was one of the biggest names in piano and organ retailing around Norfolk and Suffolk. There is no evidence that they ever had a piano or organ factory, so we can only guess that (like so many others) he put his name onto instruments bought in from wholesalers. William Howlett claimed to have...

John Benjamin Tolkien was a dealer in Birmingham, Grandfather of the famous writer J.R.R. Tolkien. I have no evidence that John made pianos, but he was a piano retailer. Henry Tolkien was the main piano maker of the family, but there was also Alfred, Henry & Septimus, who all called themselves m...

I would have said the serial number suggests about 1887. 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. My Datemarks page http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html...

The number suggests that it was made in 1891. My problem is that when you ask someone who has studied full-time, qualified, and been in business for years, I can't imagine where you would start to do the job yourself. People often try, but you can't just "source the parts" for an 1891 pian...

When you tuned it, you had the perfect opportunity to look under the bottom keys for a date label.

I cannot personally help you about the listings on this site, I am only involved with the forum. This is, as you thought, not a Bentley serial number, but a Harrods stock number, probably 1976. If you want to search inside the piano for clues, have a look at http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.ht...

I wonder if anyone has found out any more about Lippmann pianos? I have to tune one, it looks like a Yamaha upright, but the name on the front and the frame is Lippmann.

Thanks for that, these pieces of ephemera are impossible to find by active research.
Is there any chance I could get a scan of it?

Photos would help, you can email them to me if that's easier, and I will attempt to battle the software! _email638.jpg Elliott is a common surname, so it's not surprising that there have been at least 15 piano firms with that name, but I haven't found J.W. yet. For more clues, have a look a http://w...

It's the sort of thing that, if it came my way, I would grab, so I wouldn't be any help to you. Unrestored pianos that old have very little cash value, only historical value, and most would require major repinning and restringing, not a job for DIY. Having it professionally restored would cost thous...

I have answered this twice, but my posts both disappeared.

I have just replied to your post, but my reply has disappeared, so I am re-doing it. The C&S number is a stock number for Crane & Sons, and indicates that the piano was sold by them some time after 1935, but the piano looks much earlier, perhaps Edwardian. The actual serial number is more li...

The C&S number is a stock number for Crane & Sons, who will have sold it some time after 1935, but the piano looks Edwardian.
The actual serial number is more likely to be on the vertical surfaces, perhaps painted onto the iron frame. It should be visible simply by lifting the top open.

Knight pianos are NOT American! The serial number 29773 suggests that it was made in 1960.
I can't remember seeing a 5-octave (and a bit!) Knight, but I will see what I can find out. What are the names of the top and bottom notes?

The sticker action would suggest that it was made no later than about 1895. Many tuners don't want to know about historical items, and may condemn them if they don't conform to modern specifications, so I often try to rescue these pieces of history, but even in the UK, I can't usually justify the tr...

Nobody anywhere can guess the value or condition of a piano without inspecting it on the spot, and testing to see how well it holds in tune, so your local tuner is the best person to ask.

I'll have to think about this one! The name is cast into the iron frame in the normal Steck way, but there is a lot of confusion about the connections and overlaps between Aeolian, Orchestrelle, Pianola, Steck, & Weber. Genuine Stecks were made in several different factories, with different numb...

As with most composers' names, there are many pianos with the fake name Schumann. My Names page... http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html mentions a number of them. The same page mentions that fake German names were commonly used on pianos sold in Australia, whether they were German or not. The fon...

There are a few organ websites, including one called Tardis. I deal with piano history, but there is a great overlap between the piano and organ trades. Geogre Bedwell was originally a piano tuner, but by the 1880s, he had set up his musical instrument warehouse, and it seems unlikely that he made t...

If it's an Eavestaff piano, there is no harm in doing this as a reply.
Otherwise, NEW TOPIC is at the top of the forum page.
Below your message, you will see a section for attachments.

On this forum and on my own website, I think it is fair to say that we receive more enquiries about Spencer than any other make, so they must have produced a lot of pianos. It is not always easy relying on numbers for dates, but with Spencer upright pianos, it is simply a matter of opening the top, ...

With the dark-polished pianos of this era, if you strip the polish off, it often reveals that a lot of areas are fake grain, and the outer structure often has a number of different types of wood. I am not a wood expert, so I don't know if they were aiming for rosewood or something, but it does't loo...

I have no firm dates for Metzler numbers, but, judging by its appearance, the piano was probably made around 1890, around the time when Brooks & Co. became Brooks Ltd.

Around that time, London makers often bought in actions from German makers, until the 1914 war. Yours appears to be a German action, and if your tuner feels it is safe to pull out the action, it may be marked on the back with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this. Have y...

Thanks for the photos, it appears to be a typical Edwardian upright, so probably 1900-1910. There was a London maker in the late 1800s named William James, but not limited. 1884 William James, Pianoforte maker, 120 Fulham Road SW. By 1894 he is not listed, but after a gap of a few years, there seems...

There was a William James in London... 1875 Not listed in the Post Office London Directory as a Pianoforte Maker. 1880 William James, Pianoforte maker, 26 City Road EC. 1882 William James, Pianoforte maker, 64 Bread Street. 1884 William James, Pianoforte maker, 120 Fulham Road SW. 1886 Not listed. H...

James is a very common surname, so it is not surprising that there have been a number of piano firms with that name, but I have not yet found William James Ltd.. The word "limited" was not usually shortened to Ltd. before 1900. I have been unable to find him in London lists or national lis...

Being a William James myself, I am sure I would have noticed this name, but I will have a look through my files. However, to save me going through over a million entries manually, I need some clue as to what it looks like, or how old it is. Are you able to post photos here to show what the whole pia...

Thanks for that extra information. Almost all piano makers used specialists to make the iron frames, actions and keys, but I have no way of knowing how much of the building was done by Lovell himself. If you follow my previous link and select the Names page this will answer some of your questions. I...

My Genealogy page... http://www.pianohistory.info/genealogy.html explains that in the census records, "pianoforte maker" usually refers to an employee, not in business in his own name. I would expect that when Lovell was running his own business, from about 1872 to 1895, he might have been...

Firstly, in spite of some of the published information, Clementi's name appeared first, until his death in 1832, so the piano is not 1820. A more likely estimate is 1872, but it is always unwise to date a piano purely on the basis of numbers. This applies especially to Collards, whose numbers are ra...

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