Wilhelm Spaethe

[meobeou]

How old is my Spaethe piano no. 40732?

Lee!

[Bill Kibby]

As far as I am aware, Spaethe is one of many makers whose numbers are not published. If your tuner thinks it is safe to remove the action (the working parts of the notes) it may be marked on the back with the action makers' name and number, and I may be able to date this. If you can post photos here to show what the WHOLE piano looks like on the outside, unobscured by stools, dogs, vases etc., I may be able to estimate the date.

[Dieter]

Serial number 40732 = 1928
Greetings Dieter

[bar3nd]

Hi,

I hope it's okay to tag on to this thread.

I just took possession of a Wilhelm Spaethe 190 grand piano, serial number 1021.

I understand very little documentation exists about this manufacturer, but any pointers as to the date of production or any other anecdotal details would be very interesting.

Best regards,

Barend

[Bill Kibby]

Unfortunately, the photos are not of good enough quality for me to read the details. Most grands of the 1900s are impossible to date by their appearance, because they are so similar, as I expain on my Grands page at pianohistory.info
Your best hope is to look at the labels, write down everything there, especially any years. The piano will have been made after those years.
I don't think there are any reliable dates of serial numbers for Spaethe. There are Spaethe ads online between 1907 and 1916, They were apparently established in 1859, yet they don't seem to have made pianos that early.

[bar3nd]

Hi, thanks for looking at least.

The paper label on the underside says 1021 and "Flugel 190 Schwarz" - which is clearly the model and the colour.

I tried to get a better look at the label on the soundboard - which doesn't have a clear date of production on it (I did look for that before, obviously), but it has some drawings of two factories, and some depictions of coins - and on the coins there are dates, the latest one I can make out is 1898.

And since there's the claim of "Hoflieferant seiner Majestaet des Kaisers von Oesterreich", that would limit the plausible period to the end of the Austrian Imperial Court in 1916.

So that at least limits the range somewhat.

Best,

Barend

[Pianoa440hz]

Hello and I have a model 170, the paper label dates this to 1901 no. 1146 as in the picture. I suggest this is the case or factory production number and not the finished exit date one, my piano has a second number by the music stand, treble side of 28640. Does yours have this? Good to compare. The factory number may only be for those specific models.

For 1901 mine / yours is quite a modern appearance and not the older classic case features which were gradually changing with the times. Perhaps Spaethe more up-to-date than others with contemporary styled instruments.

Andrew