WILLIAM STODDERT & SON?

[ninibear1st]

Hi, I have a square piano.The maker is William Stoddert & son. Serial # is 11060.
Could you tell me how old is my piano?

[Colin Nicholson]

Unless someone like Bill can shed some more light on this, I trust there is no named piano 'Stoddert' with that spelling. There is a William STODART of USA. No serial numbers were issued, but by the name, it suggests mid 1800's.

[Bill Kibby]

Yes, you will need to check the spelling. The more famous name is STODART, but William J. STODDART was also making pianos in London, between about 1816 and 1860. At least, I assume he may have made them, or perhaps he just put his name onto them, because he doesn't appear as a maker in my London directory lists so far. However, I have not come across STODDART & SON. No dates of serial numbers are available, but if you email photos of the whole piano to me, I may be able to tell you more.

William STODART and his son Malcolm were making pianos from the 1820s to the early 1860s.

[Gill the Piano]

When the first Broadwood was still trying to persuade his dad-in-law Tschudi to stop making harpsichords to make the newfangled pianofortes - to no avail - John Broadwood used to go round to Stodart's to play...I think Stodart produced one of the earliest English grands.

[Bill Kibby]

In name only. Although Broadwood is said to have coined the term "Grand Pianoforte", the earliest written record is in a patent by Stodart, London, in 1777, when he patented a combined harpsichord- piano.

I will be interested to see which name this enquiry turns out to be.