Old Broadwood Grand

[Paul E. Dempsey, Jr]

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Hello Stephen,

I'm just now able to respond  to your post below re my old Broadwood. =
I'm planning to visit the museum again to collect more data an take more =
photos, etc. In addition to the speaking length of all the C's what =
other things should I be on the alert for?  If the number I found =
underneath the keybed is not the Serial #, then where are some likely =
places to look? I have some pictures that I could  send- would that be =
of help. This particular instrument appears to be very similar to the =
1804 Broadwood at the Boston MFA.  Mine has turned legs and a different =
lyre design.

Boston also has a 1796 with a very ornate case, but according to the =
pictures in the book that I am referencing, this one is also almost =
identical to the Huntington Museum instrument. The 1796 is a six octave.

BTW, Huntington is in West Virginia (not western Virginia-it's a whole =
'nother state. There was a war and all- it was in all the papers.Big, =
Big Grin ;-) ) which, of course is in North America ;-)

Seriously, any help/information you could provide me with will be =
greatly appreciated.

Paul E. Dempsey, Jr. RPT
Marshall University
Huntington, WV
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Stephen Birkett <birketts@wright.aps.uoguelph.ca>
    To: pianotech@ptg.org <pianotech@ptg.org>
    Date: Friday, November 05, 1999 1:03 AM
    Subject: Re: Old Broadwood Grand
   =20
   =20
    Finally delved back into the first of the spate of histroical =
letters here...
   =20
    Paul wrote:
    > that is located in the Huntington Museum of Art.
    >
    sounds interesting. Where is Huntington? Whcih continent even?
    >=20
    > Now the detective part.... in my exam I found a number (17046) =
stamped
    > into the underside of the keybed, roughly in the center in front =
of the
    > lyre. Assumeing this to be a serial number, I have checked Pierce =
and the
    >=20
    I doubt very much that this is a serial number in this location. It =
is=20
    probably a part number stamped to denote the number in a series made =
in=20
    the factory, to identify the part with a particular piano. You see =
all=20
    sorts of these type of numbers stamped in various places.
   =20
    >  Anywho...where do I go from here? The instrument is wonderful on =
the
    > outside.. the case is quite beautiful in mahogany, satinwood with =
rosewod
    > inlays with surprisingly few dings and bangs.
    >
    OK sounds good. As I said a few replies back - please measure the C2 =

    speaking length for starters. But maybe if you want to go back to =
the=20
    museum and get the data all in one go, I'll suggest a few other =
things=20
    before you go.
   =20
    > My considered opinion is to recommend to the museum that they do =
NOTHING.
    > Leave it as it is. This is a legitimate historic museum piece =
whether it
    > was mad in 1811 or 1850. Nevertheless I'd like to pin down the age =
if
    > possible.
    >
    Easy to pin down the age. As mentioned elsewhere if 1850 I would =
have no=20
    qualms about a restoration to original state, and they can use it =
for=20
    some wonderful concerts. If earlier - even 1811 - these are not=20
    altogether uncommon pianos, so they might seriously consider a=20
    restoration. Money is of course a (big) issue in such work, but =
donors=20
    are usally not hard to find for such projects - corporate, local=20
    business, patrons etc.
   =20
    Stephen
   =20
    Stephen Birkett Fortepianos
    Authentic Reproductions of 18th and 19th Century Pianos
    464 Winchester Drive
    Waterloo, Ontario
    Canada N2T 1K5
    tel: 519-885-2228
    email: birketts@wright.aps.uoguelph.ca


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