Could you help ID Schumann piano?

[amiaow]

Hi all,

I inherited this old 85 key, 2 pedal upright from my parents. My parents bought it, how shall we say, refreshed (hammers had been reshaped but it has a lot of original felt and dampers etc) in 1984 in Australia. It still plays and sounds quite reasonable. It's branded "Schumann" but in no font I've ever seen used and doesn't have the same identifying features as the Illinois Schumann. No recognisable serial number to be found... numbers that are on the case include

- 975 on the upper panel, 975T on each of the turned legs
- 61 on the cast iron.

Other identifying features are a couple of decorative swirls that have been sanded out of the fallboard.

The closest thing I've seen as far as aesthetics go is some older Schumann and Sons NY, Ronaldi (UK brand which was licenced to Beale in AU from what I could find), and the hammers look like Beale (AU brand), but I can't find any pics of the cast iron components of Ronaldi to compare and the cast is not Beale. I've also seen a few very similar pop up on Gumtree (Australian buy/sell/trade side) also with some kind of rebranding eg Carl Hoffmann Stuttgart, which never existed, and one near-identical piano also branded Schumann that was for sale on UK ebay, though in many respects it looks similar to a late 1800s upright as well.

Any ideas? How old might it be?

Thanks!

Frame

Fallboard decal has been removed

Case

Close up of action

[amiaow]

A few more photos too...

61 is the only thing stamped on the frame. Also see old felt- looks like hessian

Tuning pins and felt

975 on the top front panel

Turned legs

Rest of fallboard decal

[Bill Kibby]

As with most composers' names, there are many pianos with the fake name Schumann. My Names page...
http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html
mentions a number of them. The same page mentions that fake German names were commonly used on pianos sold in Australia, whether they were German or not.
The font is a normal bold block lettering.
You describe this as having 85 notes and 2 pedals, that is the normal arrangement in old pianos (most pianos!) this side of the ocean.
It looks like an English piano of the twenties, but the columns (legs) are unusual for that time, and don't seem to belong the the top sections.
The repetition of 975 on removable parts would suggest that it is the last 3 digits of the main serial number, wherever that is.
It is common to find so-called scale numbers encircled on the lower part of the iron frame in English pianos, but so far, I can't find any examples with 61 encircled.
I will study your photos further. If (by any chance) the action is German-made, it is probably marked on the back with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this.

[amiaow]

Thanks Bill, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise. I'll see if I can find anything on the action the next time I take it out and let you know. Thanks again!