Boosey & Co upright

[petefromoz]

Hi Folks,

Firstly, I am not a piano person (at all), so forgive my newbie-ness.
My wife just bought a piano locally (in Australia), I am working overseas, so she just sent me some photos of it. Now, I like to think I am good at googling.. but this is doing my head in.

As you can see from the photos it says Boosey & Co Regent Street London. So, I found that Boosey moved to Regent Street in 1874, and merged with Hawkes in 1930. So (assuming the label is original and real) that gives me a date range. I know that when I finally actually get my hands on it, I can look for serial numbers, but I am way too impatient for that... and here is why..

I can find very little reference to Boosey making pianos at all. I know they made Harmoniums (well Boosey & Sons did, if they are the same), but I cant find an image, for sale or even reference to uprights. Looking at the timber, is it English Oak?

I have no idea of the condition of it as an instrument, it is badly out of tune, may never play. If it ends up being an elaborate piece of noisy furniture, then I will still be happy... we got it for about 100 pounds!!

I know I am being impatient, and I will get a local tuner to check the serial numbers, but does anyone have any clues for me now?

Here are the pics

Pic 1

Pic 2

pic 3

Cheers, and thanks in advance

Pete.

[Bill Kibby]

If you go to my website
http://www.pianohistory.info/
and look about halfway down the archives page, you will find just about the only reference to Boosey & Co., but unfortunately I have been offline over the Christmas period, and search engines have not caught up with the new domain yet.

The item shows these cuttings from Holles Street, 1865-1873. and says...
Boosey & Hawkes are famous as musical instrument makers, but they have no record of the fact that when they were Boosey & Co., they claimed to be pianoforte makers, “Manufacturers of the Miniature Pianoforte”.

While you are there, have a look at the Victorian page, which illustrates London pianos beginning to imitate the style of the French Pianino, yours looks like something from the 1870s, although the form of the name may suggest a slightly later date.

See also the recent post here for Chappell in which a somewhat similar design is shown from 1872.

#1380 is thought to be from around 1891, but although it would be useful to me to know them, no accurate dates of serial numbers are available, so have a look at my Datemarks page. The name "Boosey & Co." was still used in 1932.

[Bill Kibby]

Have you had a chance to look at those pages yet?

[petefromoz]

Hi Bill and all,

Yes, I scoured your pages as soon as you sent the link. Trouble was I was overseas and only got home last night. My wife had the piano moved while I was away (it cost more than we paid for the piano!). First thing this morning, I had a good look and found what appears to be the serial number in several places, stamped an hand written - No 8867, but also 1190 stamped on the wooden frame support, and 2188 stamped on the top left hand side of the case. Initials I can find are ER (on the bottom key) and EW - inside on the top right hand side, along with some other codes and what looks like a year (1876). Also found a stamp I cant quite make out. It has an iron frame (no markings I can see), and wooden pedals with brass inlay. I took about 20 photos of what I thought useful, but I will post the marking ones here. If anyone is interested, I added a link to the whole lot below.

My new dilemma: I have two young children that love to play it (it sounds mostly in tune to my untrained ear). I would really like to know if it has any historical value... I seriously don't care about sale value, unless its huge and I need to adjust my insurance. I am worried that they will be too rough with it (my eldest son has Autism and sometimes doesn't know his own strength). Co-incidentally, I have found some 1970-80 Yamaha U1 uprights on an auction site that are going for around $400(so far). If my Boosey is really worth something, then I am happy to shell out on one of those for the kids to play... I am leaning towards this anyway, but I would like to justify the outlay somewhat if you can help me out with that.

Thanks heaps for any advice!

Cheers,

Pete.

Here are the pics with identifiers on them.

Or the whole lot on Picasa (all the ones with 8867 are here)
https://picasaweb.google.com/1079230964 ... directlink

[Bill Kibby]

Thanks for the photos and information, it adds to what little we know about Boosey's pianos. 1876 seems a quite likely date, although not written in a normal way for a date of manufacture, so it is probably a tuning. The address suggests a date after 1873.

I don't suppose you can read the rubber stamp next to the hook?

Nobody can guess the value or condition of a piano without inspecting it on the spot, and tuning it, so your local tuner is the best person to ask. Here in Britain, there is sadly very little sale for unrestored antique pianos, and I am offered several each year for nothing, just to save them from the scrap heap. I have no shortage of offers of pianos, but the Piano History Centre has so far been unable to find funding or sponsorship to provide a proper museum building, so we are overloaded.

Children do need to be encouraged to play gently, and not bang a piano, because damage can easily be done to any kind of piano, especially old ones.

[petefromoz]

Alas, I cannot read that stamp, and the photo I supplied was only taken with my phone. I have a friend who has a camera lens that might capture the detail enough for me to read, or even do the CSI thing and enhance enough for you to at least recognise parts of it. The lowest key, with the EW on it also has a full name written underneath the key, but too poor handwriting for me to read - I thought everyone wrote in perfect copper plate back in the day :) I will snap a shot of that too to see if it helps. I also think I will remove all the keys as you mention on your site and see what is under there.

Thanks again for all your help!

Cheers,

Pete.

[Bill Kibby]

If you were round the corner, I'd bring my hand-held scanner, but perhaps you might know someone who has one? Scanning is often more effective than photographs for flat areas.

It's a handy gadget for nosing around inside pianos, especially in flat places where cameras aren't convenient. Of course, some bits can be put onto flat-top scanners.

The stamp may turn out to be modern, or Australian, or both, in which case it won't help much.