John Brinsmead & Sons piano

[doreencawood]

We have a piano with brass candlesticks which says John Brinsmead & Sons, London. We are emigrating to Australia, and have to have a permit. Would the keys be ivory made rom elephant tusk and what should we insure it for. Ref on the inside lid is 56397
Many thanks
Doreen Cawood
aldocawood@gmail.com

[Johnkie]

If the number you give is the actual serial number, it would indicate it was made around 1907. The likelyhood is that the keys would be covered in ivory, there should be signs of joins between the wide and narrow parts on the "white" keys. As to insurance .... well that depends on what type of insurance. New for old cover would have to be in line with current prices of similar quality new pianos - Like for like cover? Well how can I put it ? .... How long is a piece of string? It depends entirely as to what condition it is in, and could be anything from £100 to £2000.
If you are considering taking it with you to Australia, surely you must like it enough to have had it tuned with some sort of regularity in the past .... so why not ask someone that knows the instrument ... I'm sure your tuner will be more than happy to advise you on whether it is worth taking with you, and if it is, how much insurance cover to obtain. Hope this helps. Anyhow ... have a lovely life over there in Australia ... often thought about doing the same but never plucked up the courage.

[Colin Nicholson]

If you are planning to take the piano to Australia, you may need to checkout about the ivories. Australia are very strict about importing things like this, and I recollect someone else asking about ivory being illegal to take (elephant tusk). I'm not sure who to contact, but you could start with Customs & Exise? They may be able to advise you. If your piano has ivory key coverings, you may need to declare around 100 - 104 pieces of ivory (depending on whether its a 85 or 88 key piano).

When I returned from Oz last year, at Brisbane airport, they even took a jar of chutney from me because it had certain "animal extracts" !!

[doreencawood]

re query Doreen Cawood - I forgot to mention that we are taking the piano from our home here in South Africa to Australia. They are quite strict here about exporting ivory and that is why I was querying. We do have to have a certificate from Parks Board officials to take it with us.The Natal Parks Board guy couldnt confirm if the keys were ivory or not. Regarding the date it sounds about right as this piano belonged to grandparents and has actually travelled by donkey cart from outside Kimberley to Kimberley train station, by train to Zambia, then later on to Zimbabwe and we brought it down from Zimbabwe about four years ago. We have had it tuned regularly although where we live in Natal it is extremely humid and therefore very bad for pianos. The tuner told me that a piano here is only worth what someone would be wiling to pay for it and I think he mentioned about 7000 south african rand. For us it is only an emotional attachment but we obviously have to put some sort of value for removals to Australia and was just wondering if that was a good figure to use. Many thanks for all your input.
Doreen Cawood

[Bill Kibby]

Nobody can guess the value or condtition of a piano without tuning it.

If the key coverings are ivory, they wil have joins in the ivory, level with the fronts of the black notes. Ivory also has a visible grain, whereas older plastics do not.

In some countries, the age of the ivory has to be over 100 years for export restricitions to apply.

[vernon]

To test for ivory----
get a red hot pin and stab an insignificant part of the "ivory"
If it's ivory it wont mark much-- anything else will melt,or if celluloid will burst into flame!