A. Bord Piano

[ADAMHINCHLIFFE]

We have an Anton Bord piano of Paris, serial number 104532 and would like to know any info on this, including age, value and history.

[Bill Kibby]

The number suggests 1902: As you can read on the Numbers page at www.PianoGen.org some of the dates published for Bord in various "Piano Atlases" are wrong, but this one may be correct. Beware also of numbers for the importer Charles Stiles if it came via London. No archives are available to trace individual pianos, and all we can go on apart from old ads and catalogues are any clues which may be hidden inside the piano. If the action was made by Schwander, there should be a number on the back of it, which will provide confirmation of the date. AND...

[jenniegreen]

Hi Bill,

I have had an A Bord piano for about 40years, the candlestick holders had already been removed & filled in when my father aquired it for me. It's a smaller size than a normal upright piano & has a full set of smaller keys with ivory tops very annoying when I used to practise on in & then play on a normal size piano for my music teacher my figures were used to a smaller strech. Inside the lid there is a stuck on piece of paper bearing the name William Kipps, 361 New Road London who i presume was the importer. The signature of A Bord is burnt into the frame along with what looks like serial no: 47650. Do you have any idea of it's age.

[Bill Kibby]

Kipps was a dealer from about 1875 to the 1890s, and the published dates of Bord's serial numbers suggest 1880, although they are not always accurate. If you know how to remove the action safely (the working parts of the notes) it may be marked with its maker's name Schwander, and a number which we can probably date. What intrigues me is that although Bord was known for smallish upright pianos, I have never seen or heard of one with smaller-scale keys, are they narrower sideways, or just shorter front-to-back? Six octaves (73 notes) should be about a metre.

[jenniegreen]

Hi Bill

Many thanks for your reply. The piano has 87 keys, 50 white & 35 Black starting with A & finishing with A. The total measurement of all the keys is about 116cms & each key measures about 2.3 cms wide

If I lift the lid, the inners have the name L Bouton stamped into the wood on the top at the far left hand side. This whole section can be unclipped & removed from the piano to just leave the strings. I'm not really sure whether this is what you mean is the working parts of the notes . I can send you pics if you like but i dont know how to attach, & the next problem being because i have it in a small alcove I cant get the whole piano into 1 picture

Regards

[Bill Kibby]

Yes, that is the action, and on the rear you should find the name Schwander and a number. It sounds like the keyboard has squeezed 7 octaves into little more than the space of 6 octaves, presumably for children to play. It would be interesting to see it if you could email photos to me. Incidentally, the number of notes adds up to 85.

[jenniegreen]

Hi Bill,

It has got 85 keys, it's sad I can't add up as I run a Finance office!

Yes it's marked with schwander 159543[/img]

[Bill Kibby]

That's about right for 1880. As for arithmetic, I'm much better at algebra and geometry, I was always bored by simple adding up!

[jenniegreen]

hi Bill

I've sent the pictures to your email address on your website

many thanks

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry if I confused you with my failure to grasp metric measurements, the keys are normal-sized, only fractionally different to modern ones, which happens commonly with varying key scales.

[chrisc]

hi Bill,

i have a A bord piano it has a serial number 38023 burnt in to the piano in a few places and a blue signiture A.Bord. I am aware that the number dates are not reliable but could you please give an approximate date


thank you

Chris c

[Bill Kibby]

The number suggests 1877, but if you know how to remove the action safely (the working parts of the notes) it may be marked with Schwander's number, and we may be able to date this.