Longman & Broderip c. 1780 - Sold

This beautiful piano does need quite a bit of work, but it has the potential to return to something really special.

Longman & Broderip added the Haymarket address in 1782, so this piano  is earlier than that; my guess is about 1780.

In the picture above we see that the lid is in four parts, so that the whole of the right-hand section could be lifted as a lid-swell; this arrangement is sometimes seen in pianos by Adam Beyer.  But the satinwood edge-banding and fine inlay, extending to the inside of the lid, are characteristic of Christopher Ganer; we know that Ganer made significant numbers of pianos for Longman & Broderip.

Here we see the unrestored condition.  The keysboard, with the 'missing' FF# sometimes found in early pianos, is in good condition, as is the nameboard with the graceful garland inlay. The damper-lift was divided - it would have been operated by the missing handstop.  The buff stop would have been operated by a pedal; the ironwork mechanism is present, but not the pedal itself.

The brass knob which operated the lid-swell by means of a pedal is seen in this picture.  The soundboard, which is clearly in need of attention, is not original.  Early failure of Ganer's soundboards has been observed in other examples, suggesting that perhaps they were under-engineered.  In this case, the wrestplank seems to have lifted, which would have contributed to the failure of this soundboard.  However, the bridge is original, with the bass-end detail typical of Ganer.  Please note that the tuning-hammer is not included in the sale.

Detail of the exquisite veneer-work and inlay-banding. 

SOLD

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