Collard & Collard age

[Calvin995]

I inherited a grand piano made by Collard & Collard and am keen to know how old it is. It has a small plate inside under the strings saying "metal semi grand" in capitals. The serial number stamped on the wood by the bar that holds up the lid is 16683. The piano looks to be made of walnut. Only other thing is on the far left side on the bottom of the key lid in small letters it says "supplied by Squire". Any thoughts? I'd guessed at around 1890 but that is a pure guess from looking at it. Still plays very well.

Thanks

[Bill Kibby]

Collard numbers are something of a mystery, some are known, some are wrong, some are just not known. For more details, see the Collard entry about a third of the way down my Numbers page at
http://www.pianohistory.info/numbers.html

The most likely is that it is shortly after 1889. 1890 was a good guess, but it is probably slightly further into the nineties.

If you can find a 6-digit number anywhere that might help.

There were several Squire firms over a long period, so unless there is any more information about them, it won't help.

[Calvin995]

Many thanks. Where might the number be on a mini grand?

[Bill Kibby]

You're worrying me now, how MINI is it? And what shape, and how long?

The most likely place is under the area of the music desk, but it might be imprinted in any removable wooden parts.

Can you post photos of the whole piano here?

[Calvin995]

Not that mini - I was just quoting that metal plate. Pictures attached - I will look for the 6 digit code over the weekend

[Bill Kibby]

My guess is 1893, but I do not have any exact evidence to back that up. I would hope to find a number in the 150,000 range, but removable parts ore sometimes only marked with the last 3 digits.