"Ed Seiler Leignitz" upright with pictures

[Greg]

Hello,

I have been looking to get an upright piano for a while now and I came across one in an auction house the other day. It has “Ed Seiler Leignitz” written across the front and apart from being in need of a good clean it appears to be in pretty good condition from what I can see. It sounds good too and seems to work fine apart from one stuck key. I can play a bit of piano but I’m afraid I don’t know much about them so I would really like to find out more about it. The auctioneer reckons it won’t sell for more than £100 so even if it turns out that it’s worthless I won’t have lost much and I’m sure I will have fun playing it!

I searched for a serial number and I found a 5 digit number on the inside-left as you open up the lid which I have shown in the pictures below. I’m not sure if this is a serial number or not but the number is “11941”. From what I can gather from Google this would make it pretty old.

Would love to know if someone could date it or tell me a bit more about it. Any opinions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,

Greg

http://img254.imageshack.us/i/frontopen.jpg/

http://img171.imageshack.us/i/frontclosed.jpg/

http://img25.imageshack.us/i/insideleft.jpg/

http://img405.imageshack.us/i/frontkeys.jpg/

http://img208.imageshack.us/i/insidetop.jpg/

http://img17.imageshack.us/i/sideuf.jpg/

[Colin Nicholson]

The piano is dated around 1886 according to the atlas book & the serial number matches. Very attractive looking, but now dont sell well at this age. The internal mechanism is under damped & overstrung, so it is the lesser of the other evils (not being overdamped & straight strung). The wood is burred walnut and the centre carving & sconces are typical of that decorative period. However, a good quality piano despite its age & possible condition.

The description of the piano should be Ed Seiler (the makers name) of Leignitz (the town in Germany). Seiler was established in 1849 and located at Wilhelmstrasse, Germany. Around 1876, Johannes Seiler took over the company. From 1945 - 1956 pianos were made in Denmark, then in 1957 the company moved back to Germany. Seiler pianos are still in production - making upright & grand pianos, and a new Seiler upright retails in the region of £9K.

Many pianos pre 1900 suffer damp conditions/ tight flanges & centres/ cracks in the wrest plank & loose tuning pins aswell as worn action materials. However, the photos look good. You should get it checked over by a piano tuner to ensure there are no major problems.