Richardson Edwardian Upright

[kiaya611]

My name is Steven Scott and I m the Co-founder of the International Society for the Preservation of Historical Instruments. We just picked up the piano shown in the pictures in the link and were hoping that you could help us date it and perhaps provide any other pertinent information on it or the company.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B20Nn ... 2xVZkc3Y1U

Thank you,

Steven Scott

https://www.facebook.com/ISPHI.ORG

[Bill Kibby]

This is a typical Edwardian upright, as shown at
http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html
The front decoration is incised, in other words it is scratched into the wood with a sharp tool, using a stencil as a guide. The action was imported from Germany, which suggests it is before the 1914 war. I would guess it was made around 1904, but the only way to find an accurate date is if it is marked inside. Have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html
I will see what I can find out about Richardson & Boucher in my files, but some of the mysteries of piano names and aliases are discussed at
http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html

[Bill Kibby]

The piano transfer says that Richardson was successor to Boucher & Co. I can't find any record of Boucher & Co. yet, but Adam Richardson was at Chester by 1886, and opened the Wrexham branch by 1899 (after 1894).

One possibility is that Richardson's new Wrexham branch was taken over from Boucher & Co..

By 1911 there is no record of this particular Richardson.

I will look in more detail at paper files, the other alternative is to contact local history archives in Wrexham, quoting the information above, but it is not clear whether Boucher was at Wrexham, or Chester, or both.

[Bill Kibby]

Pigot's Directory of Chester, 1828, lists Mrs Boucher, Music & Musical Instrument sellers, Abbey Street, Chester. This is the only reference I have found so far to the name Boucher.

Wrexham Archives kindly told me that Adam Richardson died in 1908, and in view of the fact that the address appears to be after 1894, the logical date would be "circa 1901".