H Clemens upright piano

[troutface]

Hi,
I was wondering if there was any info on my piano. It has the name "H Clemens" that has been inlaid in brass. It is overstrung and underdamped. 85 keys. The action was made by "J.Keller & Co" Stuttgart, serial number 85452. I have found two numbers. The first is on the inside left panel "3081" and the second is on the right, just under where the lid lifts up "101862". There are no name or numbers on the frame.Also hand written in pencil along the side of the first key is "Finished by Dolmert brothers,piano makers,Dresden".
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Brian

[Bill Kibby]

Although the name Clemens comes up occasionally in pianos from around 1900, I have no information about the company so far. Dolmert is not a name I know, but "finished" seems to imply that they were not the actual makers, and the brass inlaid name suggests that Clemens was. The numbers on Keller actions are not very helpful, they don't seem to run in sequence at all. Under Clemens' name it appears to say Robert Buchanan Junior? Robert Buchanan first appears on my files at 134 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow after 1886, and Robert Buchanan Junior took over at that address soon after. By 1899, he was at 300 Sauchiehall Street. This ties in with my estimate that the piano was made around 1907, so the following link will give you some information.
http://www.piano-tuners.org/piano-forum ... f=2&t=8859

[Colin Nicholson]

The term 'finished' usually implies the 'wood finish' - i.e. French polishers/ cabinet restorers, so the name Dolmert may be the company who restored the exterior only - and will have nothing to do with the piano name - maybe just a bit of advertising.

I may be wrong here, but the piano looks straight-strung/ oblique strung at first glance? A photo of the internal mechanism would confirm this (with front panel removed).

[Bill Kibby]

The keyblocks being the same width normally suggests it is straight-strung, although it is not a perfect rule, and this is the exception. I am not convinced about finishers, there action finishers, tuning finishers etc..

[vernon]

As the term"finisher" is a technical piano trade one, it could suggest that it was assembled from bought in parts (blank action,dampers,hammers etc.) and "finished" i.e. assembled, made to work and regulated by them.

[troutface]

Cheers guys for such a fast reponse. I have uploaded another photo,hope it helps. I can only load one photo at a time for some reason.Just a bit more info is that there are remains of refilled screw holes where the sconces used to be and it looks like it has had some modernisation in the past because there are new screws and newer looking wood at the back of the front panel where the 3 raised panels are, and yes Bill the retailer is junior with the address as 300 Sauciehall street. Today that address is the O2 ABC concert venue.

[Bill Kibby]

If you ADD THE FILE, then PLACE INLINE, you can then do the same over and over again. Or, just email them to me, and I will put them in for you.

[troutface]

Hi Bill and others,
Is there anything else that can be derived from the extra photo's. The reason I ask is I am going to do a process to it that would probably make purists cringe. I am about to vinyl wrap the piano. It is a process normally used in the car trade instead of a respray. I just want to make sure that I don't have a rarity or major make. If it is just a basic piano then I have nothing to lose as I don't know for sure if this process will work. I have chose a carbon fibre look effect that when finished would look fantastic as it would contrast Hi-Tech with original Edwardian elegance and craftsmanship. If I can do this process I will be posting the finished photo's for all to see.
Cheers
Brian

[Bill Kibby]

To quote the item at the top of this forum...

The preloved pianos website offers an amusing list showing what they would pay for pianos, basically reducing from £300 if it is late 1900s, down to little or nothing before 1920. My own personal taste would turn that upside down and pay progressively more for anything pre-1900! At least we seem to agree that ordinary run-of-the-mill pianos made around a century ago have very little value here in Britain.

[Bill Kibby]

A recent enquiry about Buchanan caused me to look at my newer files, and by 1905, Buchanan's address was given in the Glasgow directory as 134, Mains Street. This seems to place the piano before 1905.