George Rogers grand piano

[karen]

Could you please tell me what the no 287 which has appeared on the leg of my george R piano and belly and on sound board means....underneathe:
L 287 (does the L refer to the no 50?) therefore could it be 50287? am trying to find the year it was made...has beautiful carving of a flower..above each leg and has the style of Louis XVI..all bridged legs ..even through the pedals..

[Bill Kibby]

I have already dealt with this by email, but perhaps someone on this forum can add something. As I said, if it was a twenties piano, I would expect a number in the 35,000 range. This would also be confirmed by the last 3 digits imprinted on removable parts of the case, such as that leg, or the music desk. There is no precedent for using L to represent 50, it would be a long number if it were a serial number. L could be a model, or a retailer's initials, as you can read at
http://pianogen.org/numbers.html
for example Larg & Sons used a letter L in front of their stock numbers, but if this was one of theirs, it would suggest a date before 1913, and this seems unlikely.

[karen]

many thanks for posting this. I was wondering seeing as George Rogers made pianos on behalf of Bechstein...quite a few of the Bechstein piano s look very similar....could my piano have been a sample...or did Beorge Rogers make one for himself and put his name on it?

[Bill Kibby]

There is absolutely no reason to imagine any connection with Bechsteins, although Rogers was compared to them in quality by some trades people as "The English Bechstein".

[karen]

many thanks for your reply. The design is of interest to me ...broadway and Bechstein piano s have this type of design.. i.e. with the bridge....who was copying who?

[Bill Kibby]

Do you mean Broadwood? I don't know what aspect of which bridge you are talking about, pianos have several bridges, but I haven't seen anything unusual in your photos.

[Colin Nicholson]

Did you mean "Broadwood" ?

The term 'bridge' usually refers to the curved maple lengths of wood, notched out with pins mounted to the soundboard - where the strings are steered - creating downbearing.

The legs you have on your piano are usually referred to as being dual tapered 'gate' legs. The 'gate' referring to the horizontal sections. Popular around 1900, and mostly in mahogany or rosewood.

[karen]

thank you for giving me the correction...I was referring to the gate legs....Broadwood and Bechstein...

[Bill Kibby]

These were used on some models by Ascherberg, Bechstein, Bluthner, Brinsmead, Broadwood, Chappell, Crowley, Erard, Gors & Kallmann, Henry, Ibach, Rogers, Schiedmayer, Steinway, Weber, Willmott, Windover, Wornum, etc. from the 1870s to at least the thirties.

[karen]

thank you to Bill Kibby for all your research! I really appreciate all your replies...the imformation on all the different piano's using the gate legs and at least I can now work with from the 1870's....

[Bill Kibby]

Karen said "I was interested in reading about the upright cottage pianos...what history do we have on.. especially the george rogers grand piano s ...please."

I have no more answers on your piano.