Crowley of London

[english_twit]

Can anyone provide me with some information about this company?

It's a metal framed piano, and it seems quite well made, but I have no idea how old etc. The keys do seem to be ivory as they are going slightly yellow and some are missing the verneer.

There are some numbers that are stamped into the wood like '9609' and '3703'

Please excuse by ignorance!

Regards

Dom

[Bill Kibby]

There's no shame in not being a piano expert! John H. Crowley is a name I have on file around the early 1900s, and Edward Crowley was around in 1899. Dates of numbers are not available for this firm, and the name is not enough information for us to arrive at any kind of estimate of its age, but I'll see what else I can find out. In the meantime, see
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

[english_twit]

Bill - many thanks..

I've had a further root around. I can't find any frame info at all... but the following info has come to light.
The piano seems to have been supplied by Hickie & Hickie of Gloucester (it's travelled a few miles!).

On the right hand side panel, stamped on the top are the numbers
13665,8702 and 7267
on the Left Hand Side
3702, 6069 OR 6909.

I'll check the link and see if I can decode.

based on the condition of the cloth at the back, (very dusty and torn) I think you could be right about the age.

Regards

Dom

[Bill Kibby]

It's nice to be right, but I didn't suggest a date. Hickie & Son became Hickie & Hickie around 1890, and Hickie & Hickie Ltd, around 1930. If you could email me some photos that would help, especially interior details.

[Bill Kibby]

No-one anywhere will give you a valid, unconditional valuation without on-the-spot inspection, to torque-test every tuning pin, and determine pitch, regulation, downbearing, and the internal condition. There is no particular value in the name, everything depends on its internal condition. See
http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/datem ... ianos.html

[bltonwry]

Today I tuned John H. Crowley upright #3419. Good piano: massive iron frame, proper metal action standards, big angle for the bass resulting in longer strings. Besides the very British practise of hiding the lost-motion adjustment under a piece of stupid felt, all excellent design and nice tone throughout. The piano seems every bit as good as, for example, a George Rogers so I was surprised there's no mention in any of the serial number books, but then again maybe the company didn't last all that long given the low serial number from a piano that looks 1920s or 1930s.

[bltonwry]

The piano wasn't upside-down when I left it.