Imperial Organ & Piano Co.

[eliram]

Greetings.

I have this lovely upright piano. It states "Imperial Organ & Piano Co. LONDON" as well as "A. Emerson, Stanford rd. Manchester".
The Serial Number is: 17377

I would be happy if someone can give me a date estimetion.

It's a bit out of tune, and some of the hammers don't fall back into place after hitting, I hope it will be possible and feasable to bring it to a good condition.

Thank you for your help,
Eliram

[Bill Kibby]

The Imperial Co. name was around for a very long period, from the 1890s to the 1960s, but no dates of serial numbers are available, and we don't even know if they actually made the pianos themselves. Emerson doesn't seem to have been there until the 1920s, but photos might tell me more about the age.

[eliram]

I've posted some pictures here, sorry if it's a bit slow.

http://eliram.no-ip.com/piano

Thank you,

Eliram

[Bill Kibby]

I had a look, it has a twenties look about it, but very similar things were made into the 1950s. Have a look at the Datemarks page on my site.

[eliram]

He said that he couldn't say what's the exact date, but he's pretty sure that the piano is easily more than 100 years old. The strings are straight, completely vertical and not diagonal, and the mechanism suggests (as he explained) that this is an old piano (no springs).

Thank you for you help, I couldn't find a link to your site, though.

Eliram

[eliram]

I've already read the page, there were no markings on the low or topmost keys when the piano was last disassembled.

Thanks again,

Eliram

[Bill Kibby]

I stick by my feeling that this was made shortly after the 1914 war, the top door panel design is very much a twenties look, and the dark varnished parts of the action wouldn't be much later. Also, I have no trace of Emerson (so far) until the twenties. It's surprising there are no identifying marks on the action, but vertical-strung overdamper pianos of similar specification were still made in London in the 1950s, where is your tuner based? I don't understand the bit about "no springs".

[Bill Kibby]

Emerson was not listed in the Manchester section of the 1914 Music Trade Directory, but by 1928, he was at Alexandra Road. The Stretford Road address was in use 1936-8, and must be somewhere between 1929-1950.

[eliram]

Thank you very much for this information.
It really makes sense, although I'm still not sure: is the brand name "Imperial" and the Company that made the piano "Emerson"?

My tuner (and myself) are besed in Israel, but he's considered an experienced international professional (although he couldn't date the piano, and he's not an expert on English pianos specifically).

The "springs" comment was mine, sorry. I couldn't remember the term for "Overdamper" piano, but I remembered that overdamber designs use weights instead of springs and that's what I tried to explain.
It's my first piano, so I'm rather excited, although I'll probably have to spend around 200 pounds to bring it to a reasonable condition.

[Bill Kibby]

Emerson was a dealer who sold the piano, Imperial claimed to be manufacturers, but I can't guarantee that!