Henry Tolkien. Looking for information

knockstownman · Post by **knockstownman** » 23 Nov 2009, 23:47

I am looking for some information on my piano. It is an upright Henry Tolkien dark/black in colour and also has "By Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent" manufacturer on it. There are some designs on the front of it also. Any information, please tell me.

Thanks

Knocktownman

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 24 Nov 2009, 13:23

Henry was the main piano maker in the family line of the famous J.R.R.Tolkien. Are there any numbers inside the top? Some possible dates of his serial numbers are published, but they are misleading, because many of his pianos have two quite different numbers. If you could email some photos to me, I may be able to give you some idea of age.

knockstownman · Post by **knockstownman** » 24 Nov 2009, 23:05

Hi there and thank you for your help; There is a number inside top lid above all the letters. It is 13072. I do have some photos but wil have to email them to you from my office tomorrow. Does the numbers 13072 make any sense? Thanks again

Knockstownman

Post by **Bill Kibby** » 27 Nov 2009, 01:52

My estimate of the date of this piano is about 1877. Just a year later, in 1878, George Sherborne was indicted at the Old Bailey (central criminal court) for trading in pianos whilst he was bankrupt. He took pianos on credit from various makers, and sold them at auction, sometimes for less than they cost. This case can be found on the internet, and includes a small but useful selection of piano prices and serial numbers for 1878. These include Tolkien (probably Henry Tolkien) 78142 and 78143. They are nothing like 13072!

knockstownman · Post by **knockstownman** » 16 Dec 2009, 00:20

Hi Bill;

After much deliberation my good lady has decided it wont fit into our new home.
We do both love it and the money I suppose would be handy but I think we'd prefer to have the piano, it is listed on ebay, reference:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... :MESELX:IT

It ends next Tuesday which means I have a week to get her to try and reconsider but I just wanted to let you know and appreciate your help and all the work you do with all pianos. In fact if you can give me 10 good reasons for her to make it fit in our new home I'll send you something towards your great work.

Kind regards

Michael

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