Hapsburg Beale & Company

vanessa · Post by **vanessa** » 29 Sep 2008, 11:48

I have recently had my piano french polished and would like to fit a pair of piano sconce. The piano is a Hapsburg Beale & Company upright. It is an old piano possibly round that 100 yr mark but I would like to know the acurate age of my piano so i could purchase sconces that were suitable to its era, however the only numbers i can find are inside the case which are 7570. if anyone has any idea it would be much appreciated.

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 30 Sep 2008, 00:16

I don't think any dates are going to be available for Hapsburg Beale. Also, the idea that sconces were a specific tyoe in a particular period is not held up by the evidence, there huge variations in dates and types. Furthermore, you will have very little choice or opportunity to choose, I have only found three good pairs of sconces in 45 years. If you email photod to me, I may be able to estimate the date.

Sovereign1989 · Post by **Sovereign1989** » 02 Oct 2008, 08:52

The first piano in Australia was a Broadwood. It arrived with the First Fleet in January, 1788, and was the property of a surgeon. When he returned to England, he sold the piano to Elizabeth Macarthur, wife of the founder of the Australian wool industry, John Macarthur. I can imagine the instrument providing entertainment at nights on Macarthur's 1000-acre estate at Rose Hill, near the city of Parramatta. Any ideas as to the model of the piano?

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 02 Oct 2008, 09:08

It would be either a square piano (querpiano) or what we today would call a "grand". Broadwoods' first recorded sale of a grand was in 1781.