Gant "From Collard and Collard"

[ckyen]

Hello all

I have the offer of an old piano and it says "Manufactured expressly for Samuel C. Gant (from Collard and Collard) 11 Princess Square, Plymouth.

I wonder if anyone could tell me anything about this pianos history amd the person it was made for?

I know it's made in Britain in the early 1900's or late 1800's.

Many thanks in advance.

[Bill Kibby]

I see no evidence that this is a Collard piano, and it was not made for an individual, Gant was a retailer. It is a little confusing, but some aspects of this, such as the "From" word, and the "Manufactured expressly" are described in my page at
http://pianohistory.info/names.html

The type of piano is almost certainly Edwardian, as described at
http://pianohistory.info/edwardian.html

Plymouth lists on my files do not show Samuel Carnaby Gant in 1886, but he was at that address by 1894, and still there in 1899, although gone by 1911.

Evidently he worked for Collard & Collard before, but we don't know who made or supplied this piano, although "Manufactured Expressly" probably sounds more special than it really is.

I have improved your photos somewhat, but if you have the opportunity to post better ones (ordinary jpg) or email them to me, that might help me to say more. Ideally, I would like to see the whole piano, unobscured by other things, and also some views of the interior.