George Russell piano by Cramer

[Coppertoprich]

I have 'inherited' my Mother's piano. I think she had had it since she was 17 (1950)

It is a George Russell London, with sole sales concessionairs J B Cramer Ltd, sold by J Greenwood & Sons of Guildhall, Preston.

Stamped in the seemingly gold painted iron frame is the following, working from left to right:-

Top Line:- GOLD MEDAL BRUSSELS EXHIBITION
Second Line: EST 1842 MODEL 2 No 2S235

It is a dark wood

Any ideas please?

[Bill Kibby]

By then, Russell pianos were made by Cramer, and this one was sold by Greenwoods.

If you open the top and look inside, you should find some numbers that might help us determine the date.

Is there any chance you could post photos here to show us what the WHOLE piano looks like? Or you could email them to me to post.

[Coppertoprich]

Thanks for your reply. I am unable to upload picture cos too large apparently.

The serial nr is as I put in original post. There is no letter prefix. All details stamped in to the frame are as I noted earlier too.

[Bill Kibby]

Serial numbers do not have letters in them, so if it is 25235, it might be from around 1895, but I doubt if Russell was part of the "Cramer Agencies" by then. Dating pianos purely on the basis of numbers is not always simple or reliable.

If you could email photos to me, that might give me more idea what sort of piano we are talking about. Otherwise, you can open the photos in the Paint programme, resize to 25% and save them under different names.

Have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html

If you want to search for clues inside the piano, have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

[frida]

Hello,

I have a question about a George Russell upright piano we've found in Germany. The number is 12218, it is a beautiful piece. The only problem is the instrument hasn't got the original strings any more. The new strings don't match the instrument (it doesn't have an iron-frame) so it is really necessary to find a similar reference piano. I am for any information thankful! Cheers, Frida

[Bill Kibby]

I am sorry I don't understand what you mean about the strings not matching the piano. A professional technician should be able to sort it out for you. The serial number might suggest something around 1890, so it almost certainly has an iron frame, even if it doesn't reach the top of the piano. Can you post any photos here to show what the whole piano looks like, and perhaps also the string problem? Or you can email photos to me to post.