Clementi c. 1804

Here we have something increasingly rare - a piano that is original and unrestored.  It does need work, of course, but a restorer will not be working against earlier unwise interventions.

The beautiful nameboard artwork is in excellent condition - the lettering is pure gold, and I hope you noticed that the sweet pea painting is the same design as I used for the headings of the pages of this website.

Quite unusually, both the pedal and the 'shade' have survived.  The original green silk covering of the shade indiates an early date, as does the French stand with square-section tapered legs.

The lid was detached for this picture, but has now been refitted.  We see that the hammers and dampers appear to be all there.  

Most of the top strings have been inexpertly replaced, but many in the main section seem to be original.  The treble hammers are visible.

By the way, we note that the lock is missing - a common problem.  I recommend that a new owner could consider a dummy - who needs to lock it anyway?  Here's one I made for a c. 1792 Longman, Lukey & Co - an ancestor of this piano.

We have so far been unable to read the ink serial number, but the date is a close estimate.  The soundboard and bridge appear to be original and good, but there is a small unexplained hole just to the right of the keyboard, visible in the fourth picture.  The strings should all be replaced, but many of the originals are undisturbed, and the wrestpins are also original.  The ivory registration code is CGHQC9UJ. 

SOLD

9/23