F. Leblond, 5 Alfred St.

[Stephane Doyon]

Hi,

I am trying to find information about a piano made by "F. Leblond, 5 Alfred St. Bow Road London". This instrument seems to be a fine upright piano with mahogany veneer and silk textile on the upper front panel. It is said to be from the 1830's.

Thank you,
Stephane Doyon

[Bill Kibby]

I have nothing ready on computer about LeBlond, except a French firm of 1876, but I will have a look through my card and paper files. There are references to LeBond, and these could quite easily be spelt wrongly. Google Earth shows that Alfred Street appears to be all modern buildings now.

[Bill Kibby]

I am fascinated by Mr LeBlond, he doesn't appear in over thirty separate directories that I have checked from 1794 to 1892. Is there any chance that you could either post photos here, or email some to me?

There was an early firm, possibly LeBond, in the 1790s, but no connection is known, and your piano will not be that early. What sort of height is it?

If you are near enough to London, you could do research on local history, but some idea of date would be needed. A normal cottage piano...

http://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-forum ... f=2&t=8718

would probably be 1840s-1870s if it was made with a silk front.

Are you anywhere near me in East Anglia?

[Stephane Doyon]

Hi,

Thank you for your interest in my question. I'm currently in Ottawa, Canada, where the Leblond piano is, so I am afraid I won't be able to carry on local history researches!

Approximately, the dimensions of the piano are:
height: 57" 1/2
width: 51"
depth: 25"

The keyboard has 80 notes (6 octaves and 5 notes) and the compass is from CC to g''''

I will send you photos on your email address.

Best regards,
Stephane

[Bill Kibby]

Thanks for your email and photos. I am sorry I seem to be incapable of putting photos onto this piano history forum, which is not my own website. I'm tempted to say that if I haven't found LeBlond in half a century of research, he probably wasn't a maker, but a retailer putting his name onto pianos made by someone else. The building doesn't exist anymore, so we have no clues there, and the fact that he doesn't appear in any of our many London piano lists...

http://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-forum ... f=2&t=9101

suggests that he may have been a general dealer who included some pianos in his stock. After all, it appears to be a very nice paper label, stuck on. The only way I can see to resolve this is a trip to London, to check when he was at that address, and what he says about his occupation. As for the date, I estimate it at 1825.