[mktownsend]

I just purchased (cheaply) a very old piano. The lady said her father had it when she was a kid in the 50’s. It was passed down through the family but she had no clue from whom and only it was very old then. Inside the top lid on the side of the casing it has 11156, not sure if that is a serial number. Inside the keyboard cover is the following inscription. Membre Du Jury 1878 Hors Concours, A Bord, Paris. Is this a English, French or American piano? If that is the serial number, do you know about what year the piano was made? We have intentions of restoring the case and we purchased the piano for that reason. It has a couple "sticky" keys, but no broken strings, just VERY dusty. We are now thinking of having the mechanical part restored and tuned. Someone had told us it was hard to impossible to tune or repair an English piano here in the states. Is that true?

[Bill Kibby]

Anton Bord made the piano in Paris, and he was a member of the jury at the 1878 exposition. Whether it can be tuner or repaired in the States depends on how open-minded the paerticular tuner-technician is! The published dates of Bord's numbers suggest 1905.
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I do not buy, sell or value pianos, but I sometimes rescue wood-frame pianos in the UK.

My own website: http://www.pianogen.org

Email Bill@PianoGen.org

Piano History Centre