Robertson piano

[ailicic]

I have an upright piano branded Robertson and I can't search anything about the manufacturer or any detail regarding my piano. I only know it is British made and it is very old. more than 20 years, i presume...

anyone can tell me anything about it? thanks.

[Bill Kibby]

Being such a common name, there have been quite a few firms named Robertson, especially in Scotland, so the name on its own is no help. Is there any other information on the piano?

[ailicic]

ya, I found the number 132074 on the board, and here are the images of the piano.







I am not sure whether the photos I took are useful or not, anymore photos needed then I will retake them. thanks! ^^

P/s the number 132074 mentioned is in the 4th photo, the black figures there, which is unclear in this photo.

[Bill Kibby]

I mainly deal with antiques, and this is not a familiar model to me, not one I have ever tuned either. I see that you have removed a key, have you looked for datemarks under the bottom keys?

[ailicic]

Oh, it was for cleaning, dad and I removed every keys and vaccummed them before putting them back as there are numbers on the keys marking the arrangements. However, I found no datemarks under or on the keys...

Anyway, by the look of the piano, do you think it is a good one? By the way it is made, can you make an estimated guess for the year of manufacture? Thanks! ^^

[joseph]

looks kemble ish

[wombatmama]

I own a Robertson upright piano which was purchased brand new from UK almost 35 years ago. It is still in good condition and my child has been playing on it for the past few years. I found this link as I was googling for information on the Robertson brand. I am planning to trade it in to upgrade to a baby grand. not sure what brand though. Would like to find more info on Robertson first to see how much it is still worth today....

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Whilst you aren't supposed to use this forum for valuations please upload photos showing the inside and outside of your piano, get nice and close and use the flash. We should be able to give you a rough valuation at that point. For an accurate valuation you should definitely pay your local technician to carry out an official inspection.

[Blanki]

Hello, I just got a Robertson piano with the followings:

W.J. Rayne
Approach road
Victoria park
16156

could you tell me about this piano? Age, approx.value....etc. Thank you!

[Colin Nicholson]

As previously mentioned by Bill, there are several retailers with this name.
For now, its best to ignore the name, address, numbers - and just send a couple of photos of the piano complete - in one piece.

The name 'Rayne' is probably a retailer's name, showing the shop address where it was sold previously - very common for advertising, but nothing to do with the piano.

The top post tells you how to download images.

This forum cannot give valuations - you will need to make an appointment with a piano tuner/ technician/ retailer/ piano shop, who specifically buy & sell pianos.
They will need to make an on-the-spot assessment and partly attempt to tune it to test its tuning & general condition. If you are just interested in selling it, they may require photos first to see if they keep your kind of piano in stock. (Usually not over-damped & straight-strung pianos).

Value of many stencil pianos is not very good these days

Hope that helps

[Bill Kibby]

I am assuming this is actually W.T.Payne. Is Robertson the main name above the keys?

William Thomas Payne was at 102-103 Approach Road Victoria Park around the 1860s, and claimed to be a maker, but was not listed in directories as such. He moved to another address in the late 1800s - 4 The Parade, Churchfield road West, Acton W.

Can you post photos of the whole piano here, or email them to me to post? Have a look at
http://pianogen.org/victorian.html

[Blanki]

I send you the pictures. Thank you in advance.

[Bill Kibby]

1914~RobertsonPayne134u (13).jpg (49.3 KiB) Viewed 20094 times

From the photo, I would say that although it has been stripped and repolished or varnished in a very light colour, this piano looks like a typical Edwardian piano as shown at
http://pianogen.org/edwardian.html
or perhaps a little later, around the 1914 war. It is quite possible that the action was imported from Germany, and if you ask your tuner to take it out, the action makers' name and number may be on the back of it, and we may be able to date this. Have a look at
http://pianogen.org/datemarks.html

I didn't realise W.T.Payne was still at Approach Road that late, but then, the 1900s information is not all typed up because of lack of funding, and we have to give priority to the earlier period, but I will see what I can find out. My guess is that the Robertson name in block capitals is bogus, and it was originally a W.T.Payne piano. The gold paint in this photo is definitely not original!

1914~RobertsonPayne134u (90).jpg (37.77 KiB) Viewed 20094 times

[rocklandpiano]

Robertson was established in the Highlands of Scotland in the early 1930's by master cabinet maker and championship piper James Robertson. Today, Robertson maintain the Tradition of Excellence and high manufacturing standards - even in these modern times.
I own a Robertson upright piano which was purchased brand new from UK almost 25 years ago.