G. Handel Garth & Co., Edinburgh

[Chris]

My father, since passed away, bought this from a furniture dealer 20 years ago. It's a beautiful piece with inlaid artwork, peg construction (no nails, very few screws), candle holders and folding/retractable sheet music holder. Inside is metal stamped: "G Handel Garth & Co., Edinburgh" and two wood stamp locations bearing the number: 372. Dad had written down a number 34372, but we couldn't find same anywhere on the piece. Could this be the serial number? We're wanting to find out:

1) its approximate age;
2) more specifics of construction, e.g. type wood, metal, strings, etc.;
3) history of company;
4) Was it the 372nd produced and out of how many totally produced?
5) Was G. Handel Garth any relation to G. Handel, famous English composer/organist?

Thank you for any information.

[Bill Kibby]

This was not Mr Handel, it was G.H. Garth. It was not uncommon for people with musical connections to use Handel as a forename, and in this case it was his middle name. He first appears in our files shortly after 1899, and seems to have been lost in the 1914 war. We have no details of his pianos or business, but he was an instrument dealer, and it is unlikely that he made the pianos himself, they probably came from wholesalers. 372 is probably the last three digits of the full serial number, but this won't help, no dates of his numbers are published. For more details of Garth's dates, you would need to find a local history source in Edinburgh.