Bechstein grand made by Rogers?

[J4se]

Hi all,
I have a bechstein model V grand that I bought last year and don't know a great deal about. The case is very battered, as I'm told it was in a school for many years, but was then donated to charity.
The rest of it is in great condition though, plays beautifully and sounds great. Looks as though it has been restrung it some point as internally it's in very good condition and holds its tune very well.
I'm not interested in value, as I bought it to play, and will probably never part with it!
What I am curious about though is history- as far as I can tell the serial number dates it to about 1894, and I've read on the Internet in a few places that bechstein commissioned rogers to make pianos in the 1890's.
On the sound board in the centre where the usual bechstein logo is mine is different to all of the others that I've seen and just says bechstein, then underneath London, Berlin. There is none of the usual crests or writing with it. Could this mean that mine is one of the London built models?
Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

[Bill Kibby]

Although George Rogers later came to be known as the "English Bechstein", I can't imagine that someone as prestigious as Bechstein would have used Rogers in the 1890s, why would they? They had a huge factory, and exported a great many pianos to England.

Can you supply links to these internet sources?

The "Bechstein London" pianos are a quite different thing from the 1930s, mentioned briefly at
http://pianogen.org/archives.html

There are also references to the idea in an old posting at
http://188.65.114.254/piano-forums/view ... 45&p=50038
but I have never found any evidence.

[J4se]

http://www.courtneypianos.co.uk/makes-R.html

This is one of the sources but have come across this info on other sites too..
I thought it strange but perhaps it was to keep up with demand at the time?

[Bill Kibby]

There were lots of changes going on with Bechstein models in the 1890s, both in their markings and the design of the shape, model names etc..