"Cabinet Grand" or "Inverted Grand" are terms usually referring The age of a piano matters a great dealįor it's value and can tell a lot about the way the piano was manufacturedĪnd what kind and quality of wood was used to build your piano. Such as different kinds of wood, wool, cloth, iron, buckskin, glues, andįinish, the amount service that it has received, and how much the Quality of current information and research that is used. Years that best determine the accurate valuation, but more over the Rare and collectible items appreciate and it is not necessarily the age in Type of wood, style and the piano market conditions in the area you live in. Maybe someone can give me a good estimate for a time frame when this was made.Classic & Antique & Upright Piano Grading Guide
CHICKERING PIANO VALUE SERIAL NUMBER
I'm aware that, most likely, the original serial number got covered up or completely left off. According to Pierce, IF that is the serial number, would put it 1840. The only numbers I found were punched into the bottom-side of the keybed next to the lyre AND the same numbers punched into the lyre. I did an inspection on this old mahogany Chickering grand today, and I couldn't find a serial number. President, Shull Piano, Period Piano Linda, CAĪs to your question about date, the quarter grand was introduced in 1901, the 121s in my database are #99478, approximately 19. But all Chickering pianos are in the log books, even if we can't currently match things up. Unfortunately, as I said, there are no case number entries. We hope to obtain a film strip digital scanner and find the resources to get the images scanned digitally. However, I have taken jpgs of the microfilm of the serial number books at the Smithsonian, and now the Period Piano Center has a board member who owns a set, as well, so they are currently on loan to Period Piano Center. Unfortunately I haven't found any books for them, either.
CHICKERING PIANO VALUE SERIAL NUMBERS
On an aside, at some point the Chickering concert grands received serial numbers which looked like case numbers, eventually climbing up through 5 digits. I've succeeded many times in uncovering the serial number, if I know where it was to begin with (last week I gave my apprentice the job, and knowing exactly where to sand, I think he really got a kick out of uncovering the Knabe grand serial number from under the repaint on the plate!). I'll attach a couple of Chickering 121 photos of a piano we had in the shop a couple years ago. If it's not there, hope someone wrote it elsewhere on the piano. We HAVE found this for Knabe.as well as a book matching case numbers with serial numbers.įor many years (at least 1860s through 1890s), the Chickering serial number was placed inside the soundboard decal. We have never uncovered any log books for Chickering which have the case numbers (though I still hope they will turn up). Mason and Hamlin log books include BOTH numbers. I've wondered how far back this practice goes, possibly much earlier in England? At any rate, later Mason and Hamlin took up the practice too, except that Chickering recycled the case numbers and kept them in the 4 digit range usually, while Mason and Hamlin never recycled their case numbers, which were only a few hundred to a couple thousand different, creating great confusion and potential mis-identification. For over 50 years Chickering used both a case number and a serial number the case number was immediately given upon inception of casemaking, while the serial number (sometimes called the shipping number) was not given until completion. The number you found was the case number, which is usually found on Chickerings in a number of places, unlike the serial number, which was only put in one place, until some point in the 20th century.