[Rufusw]

I have just been given a piano, i've been told that A.Ramsden was just a dealer yet this piano clearly has A.Ramsden LTD Loondon & Leeds in risen letters on the Harp shaped casting that holds the strings.. (i.e. they havent been added, they must have been part of the origional casting) Doesn't this mean it was made by this company??
The only other numbers i can find on it are 14301 stamped on the bottom 2 keys, visible with the panels removed and under the top cover in the wood is stamped W58240
Its made from walnut and some kind of dark hardwood, i'd like to know how old it is and any information anyone has about it if possible!! Can't find anything on the internet about it...

[Gill the Piano]

You'd be better to put this on the History section, where Bill will tell all, no doubt. All I can tell you is that the A is for Archibald - crazy name, crazy guy...

[Bill Kibby]

Nothing to do with chips, this Ramsden was one of the largest piano retailers in the country, but we have no evidence that he ever made them. On my Piano Names page at www.PianoGen.org you can read that the presence of a name on the iron casting is no guarantee that it is a maker, it simply means the piano was made to be sold as a Ramsden. Have a look at the Datemarks page there.
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I do not buy, sell or value pianos, but I sometimes rescue pre-1890 pianos in the UK.

Have a look at the Datemarks page on my own website: http://www.pianogen.org

Piano History Centre