John Broadwood and Sons baby grand piano

[AussieAndrew]

Hello Forum.

I am attempting to discover the age of my piano and I have a number of conflicting pieces of evidence.

Having

John Broadwood & Sons
London

is supposedly before 1900, but it has "french" style legs (two square posts with a timber separator/brace towards the bottom - picture found on besbrodepianos) supposedly from circa 1915 on.


31286 is stamped into the top of the timber that holds the lock mechanism for the lid and is hidden when the lyre/music stand is brought towards the player, I suspect a part number?

53067 is printed on the metal frame under the lowest string (my guess as to a serial number).

53067 is stamped into the underside of the lyre, and I recall seeing this on other parts too.

The piano is approximately 4' 8" wide and just under 5' long (I said it was a baby).

A->C keyboard, 88 keys

2 pedals, "soft" and "sustain"


The piano lives in Melbourne, Australia. According to the inside front of the lid, it was probably imported through "B.B. Whitehouse & Co. Brisbane" Who seem to have been the Queensland Agent for Broadwood.

Can anyone provide any more details about this piano?

Is there a difference in the search offered through Broadwoods and through Surrey History Centre?

Thanks,
Andrew

[Bill Kibby]

I can't really say what the difference is between Broadwoods searching the archive, and the Surrey Archives doing it, because I have not used either, and certainly not used both on one piano. Have you had quotes for cost?

Various bits of pianos are described as "French" but I can't say I have come across that description, "French Legs" are usually shaped like upside-down swans.

The repetition of the number 53067 suggests that it is indeed the main number, I haven't got any numbers that late handy on computer.

2 pedals is the normal arrangement, the width is roughly defined by the number of notes, and the length is not by any means the shortest baby grand, it is the maximum by some people's definition.

Is it double overstrung?

What kind of information are you hoping for?

[AussieAndrew]

It is overstrung (I now know what that means - never thought about it) but only once at D/ \Eb.

I am interested in getting the correct year of manufacture, given the serial number list and the conflicting business name indications, though perhaps the list is the best indicator.

It would be superb to find some kind of original price, what the model is called, how many were made... anything to increase my knowledge about this instrument.

Also, I'm curious what should the original seat looks like? I am not sure if mine is old enough, or if they bothered to ship the seats with the pianos, or just sourced them locally?


cheers,
Andrew

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry, I should have explained. Some Broadwood baby grands have 3 sets of strings crossing at different angles, in order to squeeze more length into a very short instrument.

The Broadwood website connected with this site would give a possible date for the number, although it is important to remember that, as you have discovered, most pianos have several numbers inside. Some of the numbering around the thirties is very difficult, and my files refer mainly to antiques.

Specifics such as original price or model name would be a matter for their archives.

It was not usually cost-effective to take people off making pianos to make a stool, so whitewood piano stools were usually made by separate companies, and stained and polished to match pianos as required, sometimes with faked grain. Often, this was down to the retailer to sort out.

Usually, the stool will not be specific unless the piano is a special designer model requiring a particular style of stool.

[AussieAndrew]

Thanks Bill.

Very interesting picture.

Definitely single overstrung on mine though.

Date according to the Broadwood website makes it sometime in 1916...

[Bill Kibby]

My mistake, for some reason I was assuming that a five-foot grand was a more modern piano, but the information Broadwoods gave me is...
1915 #52,800
1920 #53,462
and my guess within that range is 1916-17.

[jianlisun]

the picture about piano is beautiful .i like piano so much.and i also want to have one .