Your pianos age is one of the most significant factors in determining your pianos value. Manufactures of grand, square, and upright, piano forests classic reprint paperback april 19, 2018 by chickering and sons author see all. Manufactures of grand, square, and upright, piano forests classic reprint paperback april 19, 2018. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. By johann schanz anglicized to schantz to capture the pronunciation this grand is spectacular. This is a chickering piano from the golden era of american piano building. See more ideas about chickering piano, piano, grand piano. Jonas chickering took the design a stage further and most other manufacturers followed suit. Chickering pianos for sale buy a chickering piano at pianomart. The serial number of this piano dates it in the 1830s, very early for the firm.
Working condition just needs to be tuned buyer responsible for shipping. Hello all, i drove 2 hours to look at a lester baby grand on monday and it was a bust. This beautiful chickering square grand piano was built in. Square piano tech a dedicated resource guide for the. Piano serial numbers identify the 1 age of your piano, the 2 piano s year of manufacture, as well as 3 the circumstances surrounding the production of your piano, including factory history, manufacturing processes, and company ownership and oversight. Made of brazilian rosewood and chickering is the firsat american manufacturer of pianos. Antique piano chickering square grand piano restored. Where is the serial number on a chickering square grand piano. The piano is in good condition, although i do not have the original piano bench.
Schubert played on 1853 chickering square grand piano duration. The ivory and ebony keyboard is a full how to learning piano awesome key. This circa 1880 square grand piano was just restored by the crew at antique piano shop in friendsville, tennessee. In 1840 he patented a complete metal frame for the square piano and then applied the 1840 knowledge to the grand. They were used by the greatest composers of the 18th century including bach and mozart. The firm was originally established in boston in 1823 by jonas chickering and his partner james stewart under the name of stewart. Grand, square, and upright piano fortes sons, chickering. Jonas chickering also invented a new deflection of the strings and in 1845 the first convenient method for over stringing in square pianos. Fur elise played on 1853 chickering square grand piano youtube. Manufactures of grand, square, and upright, piano forests it will thus be seen that the two most important improvements in the development of the modern piano, from its early inadequacy to its present completeness and beauty, both emanated from the american house of chickering sons, and may be justly termed the chickering system. Fur elise played on 1853 chickering square grand piano. It is variously attributed to silbermann and frederici and was improved by petzold and babcock.
Piano restoration clients beautifully restored pianos craftsman. Our mission at antique piano shop is to promote restoration and preservation so that these heirloom instruments will not be lost forever. Rare 1860s raven and bacon square grand piano original condition, local pickup. I have a pdf file of the entire commeorative book produced for the companys centennial in 1923 which i could send you if you will pm me your email address. It is the most complex mechanical device in any home and is capable of fulfilling the players. Acquired by the present owner in 1985,it was completely restored in 1986 by stocks piano service in brainard, n. The value of a specific piano model may be determined on the basis of the price shown.
This beautiful chickering square grand piano is the ultimate collectors item. For example, in the sample below, the ledgers indicate that piano 35930 was a full grand chickering s term for their largest grand, what is commonly called a concert grand today. I made inquiries about taking it over, but never heard back from the owner. As late as 1868, 80 percent of steinways output was still square pianos. Chickering was the first piano manufacturer in america, established in 1823. Chickering piano prices and value upright, grand new, used. Chickering quickly became one of the largest and most successful piano manufacturers of all time. For the first 20 years, they built a nice selection of square grand pianos before building their first upright pianos in 1870.
Its estimated that itll cost at least 2300 to fix it soundboard and strings. Looking to down size and i do not play very much anymore. The company was founded in 1823 by jonas chickering and james stewart, but the partnership dissolved four years later. Chickering s placement of serial numbers on its earliest square pianos was not consistent. Also in 1837, chickering attempted to patent a full iron frame for square pianos but was refused on a technicality.
The company experienced changes in ownership and manufacturing management throughout the years although never failing to produce high quality musical instrument that the company name is best. Was chickering still chickering in 1932 or was it part of aeolian. In 1837 alpheus babcock began working for jonas chickering and worked there until his death in 1843. Along with samick, baldwin also manufactured chickering grand pianos from 1994 to 2001. We believe that education is a vital part of that mission. Chickering and sons pianos company history serial numbers. On your upright, the serial number is almost always on the wood or iron frame inside the piano above the tuning pins. The website is edited by larry fine, an author of the piano book, a. Instead of setting the strings side by side, the company introduced substituting an arrangement of the string in two banks, one over the other. This piano is made of brazilian rosewood, now an endangered species, and is of the carved rococo victorian style. Here is a chickering square piano that looks really old that i might be able to get for very little to none. But because the full grand was the default for chickering, it was not always indicated that is, no indication of size in the ledgers means full grand. Do you know of any places that would buy this piano or consignment.
This portion of our website is designed to help educate the consumer about what is really involved in the restoration and preservation process. There are a lot of myths about square grand pianos that are simply untrue. Haines brothers was known for building high quality, lovely sounding instruments and they. Chickering and sons is a bostonbased piano manufacturing company which is known for their awardwinning pianos and music instruments of topnotch quality. This section lists the average resale prices for used pianos.
We chose to have my grandmothers chickering grand piano completely. Nov 20, 2011 i own an 1883 chickering square grand piano and the serial number was branded into the wood behind the keyboard. I was browsing a piano forum one day and clints website appeared, so i. Mar 25, 2016 i have a 1904 chickering quarter grand piano. This area is accessible by simply lifting up the top lid as shown. Browse our available selection, or use our filters to refine your search by size, price, location, distance from you, or color.
You will notice that the brand can have an impact on the value of a square grand piano. Haines brothers piano company was established in 1851 by napoleon j. This hazelton brothers square grand piano was purchased at cluetts in albany, n. Chickering pianos are a popular choice for students, home enthusiasts and professional musicians alike. The chickering grand pianos with 4digit serial numbers are only infrequently encountered. This beautiful chickering square grand piano was built in boston in 1884, a time when more square grand pianos were being built in america than both upright and grand pianos combined. They came into existence in the united states during the 1820s and were the primary piano produced through the 1880s. I did, however catch wind of a chickering baby grand circa 1932 serial 149718. Chickering piano, old song, vintage books, musical instruments, magazines, sons.
London 17991815 james buchanan 15th was the first to have a grand piano, a chickering boston, 18231983 abraham lincoln 26th had both a chickering square and upright. Chickering and sons pianos company history total piano care. Out of stock late model chickering victorian square grand piano. Even these days, when cheap secondhand pianos are in plentiful supply, having been. Its a rare, antique piano of the precivil war era c. I own an 1883 chickering square grand piano and the serial number was branded into the wood behind the keyboard. Antique pianos, grand pianos, upright pianos, square grands pianos, complex machines with thousands of moving parts, are also works of art. It is a beautiful instrument that has working soft and sustain pedals. Mar 26, 2005 there was a site devoted to chickering history with a registry of owners, but it is now defunct and offline. Chickering square grand piano historically significant antique piano shop this is one of the earliest chickering square grand pianos we have seen come through our shop. Square grand piano value whats your square grand piano worth. The history of the piano traces back more than 3 centuries, and chronicles how the piano, most popular instrument in existence, continues to be the premiere instrument as we enter its fourth century. This guide listed below is designed to give information about specific american piano manufacturers and more, during the last 183 years or so. The chickering square grand piano was one of the most popular instruments in american homes during the 19th century.
What is the value of your chickering and sons piano serial. You can look up a free piano serial number history search from this page see list of. Where yours is will depend on the age of your piano since styles and sizes changed. As a rule of thumb, if you are researching a grand piano, it will have a 5 or 6digit serial number. Not exactly a square piano for sure, but all early pianos are interesting and this one particularly so, with its highly original condition and retaining most of the original strings, such that a very convincing early souind is possible. Each piano is manufactured with a unique serial number that is recorded for future reference of not only when it was made but also where. The square piano is a type of piano that has horizontal strings arranged diagonally across the rectangular case above the hammers and with the keyboard set in the long side, with the sounding board above a cavity in the short side.