Steinmayer piano

[steinmayer]

Hello all,
First of all : sorry for my English, I'm french.

I inherited the piano from my grandmother. It is a STEINMAYER piano.
And I'm trying to discover its history. But you know, we don't really have good french websites for this... that's why I'm here. I hope you can inform me a little.

- Brand name : STEINMAYER (PICTURE)
- Two "medals" on both sides :
* Left medal says "BERLIN 1879" (PICTURE)
* Right medal says (in german I think) "Dem verdienste seine krone". (PICTURE)
- On the right of the piano, I have this : "Sole Agent - ALBERT VARLEY - 555, WAKEFIELD ROAD, BRADFORD". (PICTURE 1 - PICTURE 2)
- Inside the piano, I think that a plaque has been removed. (PICTURE)
- If you zoom in the picture above, you will see what I think is the serial number, under the missing plaque. (#42330)
- If you want to, I did more photos of the piano here.

I would like to learn as much as possible on the piano, its history and that of the brand.
I wish I could date this piano, knowing its age, and other things like the meaning of the two medals, complete history of the brand, etc.
But I don't know how to find that because I can't find any good French website about pianos histories.

Can you help me please ?

[Bill Kibby]

I'm sorry I can't provide accurate information, but it fascinates me that people apologise (as you do) for their English, when so many English people are a lot worse! Pianos bearing the Steinmayer name were made in Germany and in Britain, as well as many using fake name transfers on reconditioned pianos. There are no reliable dates of serial numbers, all we can say is that it was made after the 1879 exhibition. If you could upload better pictures of the whole piano this might help me to estimate the date, but my guess would be about 1920. If you know how to remove the action safely, it may be marked with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this. That may be a job for your tuner.

The retailer Varley does not appear in my lists up to 1899, I will check later lists.

[Colin Nicholson]

The carvings & beading dont seem to look right for this piano.... could have been added later? The panel pins on the back of the top board look rather shiny & more modern than what would have originally been used.... just my views.

As it happens, I live approx. 0.7 miles away from 555 Wakefield Road - this is all dual carriage way now, and there are 2 possible addresses.... BD4 7?? and BD4 8??.... the latter is now an industrial estate (Bowling Back Lane) - and the factory could have been where the bus depot is now, or the building 'Arco' that sell safety equipment. The former post code suggests the slip road off Wakefield Road (Dudley Hill area).... but this is just an expanse of waste land now & lots of grass!!.... I also have a piano pupil that lives near the waste land.

As Bill says, there is very little info about Steinmayer & no serial numbers listed, not even any dates.... but if you try to explore the trader, Albert Varley - you may find info when he was active as a piano retailer.... however this wont give you the date of the piano, just general info about the occupation & family of the Varleys.

I registered with this site a few weeks ago: http://www.genesreunited.co uk

I paid just £5 to receive 50 credits.... basically "pay as you go" .... and each time you select a name, and click on "view" - it costs you 5 credits (about 50p?)

I managed to find a "Albert Varley".... but until you click on it, you dont know if its the right chap or not.... so I used up my last 5 credits.... wrong guy!! This particular family were into weaving, and worked at various factories in worsting, and the father - Thomas Varley was a mechanic.... so clearly here the wrong family - but if you register (for free), and go through all the Varleys (starting with Bradford) - you may find the right chap.... but again, this is just for general info. This may then also lead you onto Births, Marriages & Deaths.... so could you give you an idea of when the family existed - but not guaranteed.

Here I found another Albert Varley - the son of Thomas - and he was a scholar, presumably in the weaving industry.... so its just a matter of paying your £5 - then clicking through the others.....

here it is >>>

National Archive Varley

I think this dated around 1872, but there is another family dated around 1864 - so hope that helps. His name appears last - right at the bottom....

[steinmayer]

Well. First of all, thank you for your answers !
@Bill Kibby :
In terms of language, we have the same problem in France with the French people ^^
But I wanted to apologize because I think it should not always be easy for you to read.

Pianos bearing the Steinmayer name were made in Germany and in Britain, as well as many using fake name transfers on reconditioned pianos.

- Thanks for that. I was just trying to understand the relationship between the brand and the currency, both Germans, with address in England.

- Can you tell me more about the 1879 exhibition please ?

- For more pictures, yes I think I can. What would you see exactly ?

If you know how to remove the action safely, it may be marked with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this. That may be a job for your tuner.

- Sorry, I don't understand :/ This is probably too technical for my translator :( (I will soon bring a tuner)

The retailer Varley does not appear in my lists up to 1899, I will check later lists.

- Thanks again for your precious help.

@Colin Nicholson

The carvings & beading dont seem to look right for this piano.... could have been added later? The panel pins on the back of the top board look rather shiny & more modern than what would have originally been used.... just my views.

- Really no idea. Sorry.

- Thank you for the clarification on the current state of the address on the piano. I never expected to meet here someone living close to this address !

- Thanks you very much for your research ! Sorry you spent your money because of me :/
Unfortunatly, you know, I can not really do like you, my mastery of English is too limited to do research like this.


For my part, I contacted by email the website http://www.steinmayer.com/ asking if he could find information on my piano from the serial number. But it's been a week and I still have no answer.

Again, thank you for your help, it's really nice !

[Bill Kibby]

If you google 1879 berlin exhibition that will tell you about it.

The "Action" is known France as "mechanique".

[steinmayer]

"Mécanique" in french yes :D
Ok I understand better. I'm not able to do this, but I'll ask to the tuner when he comes.

And I'll google, thanks :)

[NewAge]

Steinmayer/(Poussin),
The safe removal of the action as mentioned by Bill is in fact the keyboard assembly.
(L'action c'est la mécanique du clavier en fait).

Incidentally I've just read your French blog. Very interesting!

[Colin Nicholson]

Is your grandmother still alive?

By the looks of things, your piano has had a refurbishment.... but difficult to see everything unless you remove the front board and send some pictures of the action from the front (not top).

It looks as though it originally had ivory key tops? .... and been replaced with plastic key tops, and also the hammer heads & dampers look newish.

As you may know, there is no "blue book" or any specific book related to Steinmayer pianos - alot of history is usually passed down from generation, or from previous owners. Do you have any records of any refurbishments made - invoices/ bills etc?

Sometimes the date is stamped on the side of the first key - this involves removing the wooden rail that goes over the keys, then carefully removing the first bottom A key. Occasionally - a restorer may add a pencil inscription - a date of when the piano was refurbished.

I think you need to book a piano tuner, who will give you more clues.

I restored a Steinmayer upright about 10 years ago, and the brass inlay was very ornate - the piano was also ebonised black.

The decal that may have been removed? .... this could have been sprayed over in gold paint - so the original decal could still be underneath the paint...... also on some Steinmayer pianos, they have a wooden dowel supporting the hammer rest rail - this is adjustable.... but you need a piano tuner to spot this.

To be honest.... this looks like a transfer piano, and maybe just given the name "Steinmayer" ...... normally the legs are scrolled - not rectangular.

[NewAge]

One of the first things that caught my attention too was the very clean, level appearance of the keys and also the very white felts of all hammers and dampers , which as Colin rightly states suggests that your piano has been refurbished.
Why someone would discard an identity plate baffles me though, unless it was mislaid/lost during the refurbishment which is unlikely if performed by a worthy technician.

You make no mention of how the piano plays, it's tone, the keyboard touch etc. Do you enjoy it?

[Bill Kibby]

Probably, it was not a plate, but a transfer, which would be lost when the piano was repolished. It's an everyday problem both here and in email enquiries at the Piano History Centre, no puzzle at all.

[NewAge]

Probably, it was not a plate, but a transfer, which would be lost when the piano was repolished. It's an everyday problem both here and in email enquiries at the Piano History Centre, no puzzle at all.

Bill,
I always thought that transfers were generally 'applied' and not attached with screws. Whatever it was appears from the photo to have been attached using 4 off screws.
And when transfers are present and piano is renovated, wouldn't a good technician generally mask over the transfer before work commenced, assuming she/he knew that original replacements were no longer available?

[vernon]

transfers generally indicated an inferior instrument so nothing was lost in removing it.
Mind you we are just doing a lovely little old Broadwood which had a transfer.