SHIP'S PIANO?

turkish · Post by **turkish** » 02 Nov 2009, 18:20

Hi I have just been given a small piano that I am told is a ships or yacht piano , however I have tried to find info on the web but it doesn`t help. It does not have a folding keyboard as apparently it should, it is strictly a scaled-down upright piano and stands 42" tall and is 40" wide. It is marked Lyon & Hall ( Brighton & Hove ) Raphael London 17022 /163. Full Trichord , Iron Frame , Check Action . Also marked L&H 5022. It is in need of some tlc. but still plays , I am just interested to find out more about it and to see if it really is a ships piano . Cheers

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 02 Nov 2009, 18:49

Lyon & Hall were already in Brighton as early as 1862, but were still going in the 1950s, so the name doesn't help us with dates. I know of several L&H numbers on pianos, but have no dates for them.... yet!

Raphael doesn't ring any bells.

A ship is big enough to have any kind of piano it likes, but small upright pianos with fold-away keyboards are known as Yacht Pianos, and and were also found in Norfolk wherries, and Suffolk pleasure boats, as well as lots of front rooms.

Many varieties of very small upright pianos were made in the early 1900s, some were known as Student Pianos.

If you can email photos to me, I may be able to tell more, but any real clues will be hidden inside.

Have a look at pianogen.org