W.H.Barnes

[Nichola5711]

I have a W H Barnes, London piano (written on the far right hand side above the keys) that also has Osbert written on it (placed in the centre in larger gold letters under the piano lid. I basically would like to know a little bit about it. Year of make, if its a poor, ok, good or excellent piano, why does it have barnes and osbert on it etc? I will be honest and say I may consider selling it. I have had it for about 30years and had it fully refurbished not long after I bought it at a quite expensive cost (at the time). I was hoping my children may be interested in taking lessons but they are more keen on swimming and gymnastics so I as it has barely been played in a nu bet of years I thought I would see what I can find out about it with a view to maybe selling it if it has any value. As I know nothing about it and have struggled to find much out on the Internet I am hoping someone on here may be able to fill in the basic details. I have looked on the piano and the serial number is either 38497 or 33497 I think the second digit is an eight but it is a little unclear and could be a three. Thankyou.
Nicky

[Bill Kibby]

It is quite normal for a piano to bear a maker's name and a retailer's name. William Henry Barnes was probably the largest piano retailer in London a century ago, but there is no evidence that he made any pianos, and many were made for him by various wholesalers, so serial numbers do not help with dates. Have a look at
http://pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

We may be able to tell you more from photos of the whole piano. Barnes sold these pianos either as "Barnes" or various other names, including Adlon, Harcourt, Osbert, Stahl, etc..

Nobody can guess the value or condition without on-the-spot inspection by a tuner.