Oetzmann and Plumb

[Antz]

Anyone know anything about this piano manufacturer, supposedly once based in London? A search on the forum returns no results, which in itself is unusual.

One of their pianos is for sale on TradeMe, NZ's equivalent of E-Bay.

This particular piano has unusual fretwork - essentially the front panel is all 'fretted', through which the action is partially visible. I've not seen this before. Is this fretwork at all likely to be original?

Photos here: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =213621496

[By the way, I'm not selling this piano, nor do I know the seller. Just curious about the piano!)

Regards,

[Bill Kibby]

I'm afraid it's not unusual at all, the vast majority of piano names are not listed on the internet. I have over twenty thousand on file and many are still not there. Oetzmann & Plumb were established in 1848, and still going at least up to 1865, but at some point this name overlapped with Thomas Oetzmann & Co. The fretwork would have had silk or cloth behind it, a common arrangement in Victorian times. The keyboard is supported by trusses, which unite the horizontal & vertical surfaces. These were rarely used before the 1880s, but interestingly, one of the very few early examples was Oetzmann's entry in the Great Exhibition, 1851, although the piano we are discussing is a much later one. I would guess this one would be 1870s, but it is difficult to see any precise clues. It is unusual to see trusses combined with fretwork in what is a somewhat French style of cabinet work.

[Antz]

Thanks for all that information and explanation, Bill.

Having just said that I'd not seen a piano with fretwork like that, I think I've come across an example such as you described - with cloth behind the fretwork. The link is here:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Music-instrume ... 067308.htm

Is this what you mean?

And it's on another seemingly unusual piano - a Challen and Hodgson - any relation to the (much more common) Challen?

Cheers,

[Bill Kibby]

Sorry to say this is not at all unusual for a Victorian London Cottage Piano, it is the usual, typical arrangement for the period, fretwork backed with silk or cloth. There were firms described as "Pianoforte Silkers" which just did that job. The Challen firm went through several name changes, and Challen & Hodgson was around in the 1870s. What a shame they didn't look inside the bottom and give us a date. These C&H pianos are usually dated on a wooden post inside the bottom, and have a serial number inside the top.

[Antz]

I've created a new topic to carry on discussion of the Challen & Hodgson piano as it didn't really belong under this Oetzmann & Plumb heading - so search for "Challen & Hodgson" if you want to continue following this discussion.

Cheers,