Bechstein model 10 history

[AndyWhiits]

Hi,
We have recently bought a beautiful but rather scruffy bechstein 10 from a primary school in dagenham, essex. From the serial number 100428 it was made in 1912. It hadn't been tuned for 3 years but had been regularly before that and seems in good condition inside. It also sounds great already but we will get it tuned and looked over in a couple of weeks. My question is does anyone know of this piano and know anything about it?

The front panel is a bit strange as it is completely flat, maybe a later edition? It has a shop label on the right just above the keys which says Gilbert Pianos ltd, 37 southchurch rd, southend-on-sea. I wonder if it was bought from there as new or secondhand? Also it has a sticker inside from Bill Kibby piano tuner, roma rd, E17. I thought that name sounded familar from looking at Piano info on the web and saw that Bill runs this forum!

I'd love to hear any historical info on our piano if you can remember it from the many you must of seen!

Many thanks

Andrew

[Bill Kibby]

My first thought when you said a school in Dagenham was whether it was a piano I might have tuned, obviously it was. The address places that way back in the seventies, and even if I managed to find a record of the tuning, it would not tell us anything much about the piano, apart from name and number. Gilberts quite possibly reconditioned it, and "modernised" the front panel. In the eighties, I lived quite near Southend, and came across some of their pianos, but I don't think they existed in 1912. The Bechstein archives have survived, and their website bechstein.com deals with enquiries.

[AndyWhiits]

Thanks Bill. I have sent Bechstein an email to see if they can give me any info on the original sale. I wonder if anyone knows the time period which Gilbert Piano Ltd in Southend on Sea was in business for? Also if you tuned the Piano in the Seventies I guess it could of been somewhere else in essex at that time or equally could of still been at the school then? The school was called the William Ford primary school and was opened in 1970 I think to replace a victorian school called Beacontree heath school which was opened in 1877. Thanks again.

[Bill Kibby]

Gilbert first appears in my Essex lists shortly after 1899, and was in business by 1902, so he could have sold the piano new, but the plain panel suggests that it was later. My later Essex lists are not cross-referenced yet, because of lack of funding. This photo shows a Gilbert shop in Westcliff that was taken over by Berry Pianos, and in 1985, their old sign still appeared above the "Craft Upholstery" one.

1985Berry58j.jpg (46.12 KiB) Viewed 7604 times

[Bill Kibby]

I can't find that particular piano in my card index, so I guess it was very early seventies, when I was still formulating the system for filing piano specifications.