Joshua Marshall & Co. Limited

[thegreatwakko]

I have this old piano. We got it just to play on once in a while. The tuner said it needs a lot of work and it was at least 100 years old. He could fix it, but it would need all hand made parts. If this is true, we may get rid of it and find another. My mom thinks it looks nice and if it has some history, she wants to fix it up. So, Can I get service without contacting a museum? I'm Including a picture of the name, and what I think is the serial number. It was on the left side under the top. All the numbers I could find are listed.
On the metal part behind the panel by the pedals= 48
On the back of the panel by the pedals= 7529
On the top left side(Pictured)= 40249
Also running across the above number= 6429
On the back of the panel where you put the music= 7539

http://img229.exs.cx/img229/5889/p106xb.jpg

http://img229.exs.cx/img229/8554/p69hx.jpg

[Bill Kibby]

Marshall was a dealer who probably bought in the pianos from a wholesaler. Originally Wood & Marshall, the firm became Joshua Marshall & Co. Ltd. around 1890. They were still in business up to the second world war. It would be interesting to have photos for my files, but valuation is impossible without on-the-spot inspection. No original archives are available to look up individual pianos. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/archives.html

[thegreatwakko]

I was not really looking for a valuation of the piano, as mush as a ballpark for a restoration to playable grade. As far as I'm conserned its worth 10 dollars, that's what i paid. It's a shame their is no documentation with this thing. It has a half scratched of label behind the front panel, but you can hardly read what's left. I can post more picture of the front and carvings if you would like them for your records. Also, what would you expect to pay to get this thing playable. The tuner said the action needed work and some pins were loose. Your site said that pin replacement was expensive. Is my best course, leaving this piano and getting on that works? Thank You for your help.