kingsford London?

[esther1uk]

Hi,

I've just bought a lovely sounding piano at auction, but I can't find any information about the maker at all. It just says on it Kingsford. London.

If anyone can shed any light, that would be great.

Thanks
Amanda
http://www.thomaswatson.com/item-details.asp?id=10460 (link to picture)

[Pianomate]

My guess is it dates from teens to early 20s

[Bill Kibby]

I did post a reply yesterday, but it seems to have evaporated! The Bristol City Museum has one of these, but I have so far been unable to locate a real maker named Kingsford. The vast majority of piano names are not listed on the internet, I have over twenty thousand on file, and many are meaningless aliases.

Pianos very similar to this were made in London from the twenties to the fifties, my guess would be about 1930. Read my Datemarks page at www.pianogen.org

[vernon]

in the 1940s and 1950s when pianos were extensively " modernised",any old made up name was affixed.
Almost any piano bought "new" in the ,late 40s,early 50s was in fact "reconditioned" old 20s and 30s
We still get would -be sellers brandishing grandma's receipt for the "new" piano bought then and they are often very suspicious at being told the real age.
One lady the other day a lady produced the receipt and was startled when I explained that the abbreviation at the bottom--"S/H" meant second-hand!

[Pianomate]

Is there anything written inside it or on the frame?

[Bill Kibby]

Personally, I would rather have grannies' receipts than most of the pianos of that era!

[esther1uk]

Is there anything written inside it or on the frame?

Hi, I can't locate anything except a number on the frame which is 47302. On the outside of the piano it says, "Kingsford London", and "john Burdon and Sons" "Stockton on Tees. When I remove the board below the keyboard, there is a symbol that looks like a harp embossed on the lower frame.

I shall locate a torch and maybe I can see more!

Amanda