Brasted 1837?

[brownegaz]

Hi
I have a Brasted Mahogany upright Piano that I bought about 25 years ago, I am in Western Australia.
I have tried to find some identifying serial numbers etc without success however when I removed the front bottom cover the iron framework has the number 1837 cast into it, is this a serial number ? I doubt that it is a manufacture date as I assumed these weren't made until the 1920s Thanks for any replies.

[Bill Kibby]

Brasteds didn't publish dates of their numbers but I have some on file, they had reached 23,000 by 1915. None of the numbers I have are as low as 1,837 and they were not established until 1873.
Dating a piano purely on the basis of numbers is often not as simple as it seems, and most pianos have more than one number inside. Numbers cast into the iron frame were put there before the piano was assembled, they are not serial numbers, but some are dates.
There may be a date label under the lowest keys.
Is it possible you could post photos here to show us what the WHOLE piano looks like? Have a look for clues at
http://www.pianohistory.info/edwardian.html

[Bill Kibby]

If you open the top of the piano, you should easily see numbers in there, and a serial number would usually have 5 or 6 digits.
For example, # 44,100 is 1927.

[GeorgeElliot]

Hi
Found a relative that was a foreman at Brasted's. Is there any formal written history for the Company?
Thank you.

[Bill Kibby]

The Brasted family now run a restaurant, and I tune a Brasted piano there. They have some fragmentary history, but the last I heard, it was a long way from being published.