Muir Wood from Paterson, Sons & Co. Ltd.

[patsyo]

Hi,

Hope you can help me with any history and/or putting an approximate manufacture date on my recently purchased 88 key upright piano. I am complete novice with pianos, so please excuse my terminology as I try to describe where abouts the various markings are on it.

The markings are as follows;

On lifting the lid of the keys there are two prints one in the centre on the underside of the actual lid which says “MUIR WOOD” the other is just above the keys to the extreme right hand side and reads “Sole Agents Paterson, Sons & Co. Ltd. Glasgow”

On lifting the top centre hinged lid, the there is another print in the centre of the front half, it reads “We guarantee this pianoforte to be made of sound and seasoned materials, by skilled British workmen & undertake to make good by repair or exchange any defects arising from faulty materials or workmanship”

Also under the top centre hinged lid, on the top grain face of the left hand side housing, the number “111867” is stamped into it.

Having taken off the front housing above the keys there are a number of plaques. The first one to the right hand side is screwed to the iron frame above the strings. This plaque is made of brass like metal and reads “MUIR WOOD” between the two words is written in pencil the following to numbers “42142” & “31148”.

Behind the strings to the left hand side is an embossed plaque which has been moulded as part of the iron frame, it reads “Patent Nos 16794-09 174220 176431”.

In the middle of the arrangement below the hammers and behind their extended workings is a plate with “HERRBURGER BROOKS LTD. LONDON”.

On top of the extreme left first two keys is stamped the number “2347” the remaining keys are sequentially numbered left to right “3-88”

On the side of the first key is stamped “SHENSTONE & CO. LTD.” Written in pencil next to it is the word “STACEY”.

Having removed the front bottom housing below the keys, the iron frame has the following moulded into it:
• What looks like a harp symbol, with the letter “B” below it.
• On the extreme right hand side of the bottom rail “22HA”
• In the middle of the bottom rail “9”
• Above the bottom rail on the right hand side “2”

I hope this information is of use to you, If you require any pictures please confirm an email address to send them to. Thank you in advance for your co-operation any help/advice gratefully received.

Regards,
Pat

[Bill Kibby]

We really shouldn't expect people to know technical terms, it only becomes difficult when they make up terms and expect us to understand them! Your explanation was clear and thorough, but it is not possible to date Muir Wood pianos by numbers, they do not all follow the same sequence, even if we knew which number to follow. Photos might help us. Shenstones were unable to help me with any piano information when I spoke to them in the 1970s. By then, they were just a television shop in Leytonstone, and seemed unaware of the existence of any archive information. Their key numbers aren't entirely logical, but may suggest a date around 1926, or perhaps 1928-ish? One of the patents appears to be from 1909, but the Herrburger Brooks action dates it after 1919, and Patersons became Ltd. around 1928. Other than that I can only suggest that you look at my Datemarks page in "Gen about pianos" at http://www.pianogen.org

[MarkGoodwinPianos]

Photos would be very useful