- Chickering & Sons Piano Serial Numbers
- Chickering And Sons Piano Serial Numbers
- Chickering And Sons Serial Number
- Chickering Sons Piano Serial Numbers
Private (1823–1983) Brand (1985–?) | |
Industry | Musical instruments |
---|---|
Founded | 1823 in Boston, Massachusetts |
Founder | Jonas Chickering |
Defunct | 1983; 37 years ago |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Pianos |
Chickering & Sons was an American pianomanufacturer located in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1823 by Jonas Chickering and James Stewart, but the partnership dissolved four years later. By 1830 Jonas Chickering became partners with John Mackay, manufacturing pianos as 'Chickering & Company', and later 'Chickering & Mackays' until the senior Mackay's death in 1841, and reorganized as 'Chickering & Sons' in 1853. Chickering pianos continued to be made until 1983.
- Ivers and Pond Piano Serial Nos.
- Many piano manufacturers placed serial numbers in a variety of places. Pianos also have other numbers printed on them such as part numbers and many other pianos do not have a serial number at all. Many pianos will have a 4, 5 or 6 digit serial number to identify the age of the piano.
Antique 1947-1950 Chickering Piano Item: Used Condition: Good Shipping: Local Pick-Up Only Up for sale is an antique console 88 key Chickering& Sons piano. Based on the serial number. This piano was manufactured between 1947 and 1950.
Chickering & Sons Piano Serial Numbers
History[edit]
Chickering And Sons Piano Serial Numbers
Jonas Chickering, founder.
It was P.T. Barnum who persuaded Jenny Lind - the Swedish Nightingale - to make a concert tour of the United States. After her agreement, Barnum commissioned the Chickering company to manufacture a custom grand piano for her nationwide tour, ultimately involving 93 performances. The piano was completed by August 1850; Lind arrived in September and the concert series began in Boston. Her pianist was Otto Goldschmidt, whom she married at the end of her tour.
Coincidentally, as the tour began, Henry E. Steinway (Steinweg) and his large family arrived in New York as immigrants from Germany. Henry attended the opening night of the NYC concert series but showed little interest in the diva. His profound interest was in the Chickering piano, to which he dashed for such careful examination that he nearly had to be hauled away so the concert could begin.
On December 1, 1852, a fire destroyed Chickering's piano factory located at 336 Washington Street in Boston. One policeman was killed. The walls of the building collapsed, and set adjoining structures on fire. A new factory was built in 1853-54 at 791 Tremont Street in Boston. From 1860-1868 space in the building was the location of the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company, who made over 100,000 rifles and carbines for the U.S. Army and sportsmen from 1862-1868.[1] This structure still stands today. It was renovated into artist studios in 1972.[2]
Jonas Chickering made several major contributions to the development of piano technology, most notably by introducing a one-piece, cast-iron plate to support the greater string tension of larger grand pianos. He also invented a new deflection of the strings, and in 1845 the first convenient method for over stringing in square pianos. 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 not only saved space but brought the powerful bass strings directly over the most resonant part of the sound-board, a principle used to this day in the construction of all pianos, both grands and uprights.
Chickering was the largest piano manufacturer in the United States in the middle of the 19th century, but was surpassed in the 1860s by Steinway. In 1867, Jonas's son Frank Chickering had the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honour, then one of the world's most prestigious non-military awards, bestowed upon him by Emperor Napoleon III for services to the art of music, one of more than 200 awards the piano manufacturer garnered over the years.
Chickering And Sons Serial Number
The company became in 1908 part of the American Piano Company (Ampico),[3] and continued after the merger in 1932 of American with the Aeolian Company, to form Aeolian-American. That company went out of business in 1985, and the Chickering name continued to be applied to new pianos produced by Wurlitzer and then the Baldwin Piano Company.
Chickering Halls[edit]
The firm commissioned and operated several concert halls in Boston and New York:
- Chickering's building, Boston (c. 1850s), no.334 Washington St.[4]
- Chickering's Hall, Boston (1860-1870), no.246 Washington St.[5]
- Chickering Hall concert auditorium, 130 5th Avenue, New York City (1877), designed by George B. Post, and the venue for Oscar Wilde's first lecture in America in 1882 (razed) [6][7]
- Chickering Hall, Boston (1883-c. 1894), no.152 Tremont St., near West St.[8]
- Chickering Hall, Boston (1901-c. 1912), Huntington Ave., corner of Massachusetts Ave.[4]
- Chickering Hall, 27 West 57th Street, NYC (1923), designed by Cross & Cross (1924)[9]
Images[edit]
- The Chickering factory in 1895.
- Portrait of George H. Chickering (d.1899)[10]
- Antique piano at Stanley Hotel (note the 'C...e...g' in 'Chickering' aligns with the CEG chord on the piano)
- Chickering Hall, New York, no.130 5th Av.
- Chickering Hall, Boston, Huntington Ave., c. 1900s
- Chickering Monument by Thomas Ball (1872).
References[edit]
- ^Marcot, Roy A. 'Spencer Repeating Firearms' 1995.
- ^Chickering Piano Works Fire at CelebrateBoston.com
- ^Grove's dictionary of music and musicians. NY: 1920
- ^ abThe commemoration of the founding of the house of Chickering & Sons upon the eightieth anniversary of the event, 1823-1903. Boston: Chickering & Sons, 1904
- ^'Closing of a Well-Known Concert Room.' Dwight's Journal of Music, v.30, no.5, May 21, 1870.
- ^https://www.oscarwildeinamerica.org/lectures-1882/january/0109-new-york.html
- ^Source: New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age, Robert A.M. Stern (Author), Thomas Mellins (Author), David Fishman (Author)
- ^'Americanization of piano trade in U.S. exemplified by Chickering & Sons.' The Music Trades, April 5, 1919
- ^Miller, Tom. 'The 1924 Chickering Hall -- No. 27-29 West 57th Street'. Daytonian in Manhattan. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^George H. Chickering Dead; Last Male Survivor of the Well-Known Family of Piano-forte Makers Passes Away in Boston.' New York Times, November 18, 1899
Further reading[edit]
- Chickering & Sons. Catalog, 1883
- Chickering & Sons. Exhibit of musical instruments, Boston, 1902
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chickering & Sons. |
- Chickering in the grand piano-Photoarchive[permanent dead link]
- Boston Public Library. Chickering Piano Factory building. Boston, South End. Photo by J.J. Hawes, 19th century
- Flickr.
- Photo of Piano Factory, Tremont St., South End, Boston, 2011
- Photo of Piano Factory, Tremont St., South End, Boston, 2010
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chickering_%26_Sons&oldid=991411881'
Chickering & Sons Historical Overview
One of the earliest American piano manufacturers, Chickering & Sons was founded by Jonas Chickering and partner James Stewart in Boston in 1823. [1] The early history of the company was characterized by multiple business partner and company name changes. partner and company name changes.
The below timeline is important as it influences the value of pianos today. [2]
1823 - “Stewart & Chickering” was founded by Jonas Chickering with partner James Stewart.
![Piano Piano](/uploads/1/1/9/7/119724004/321518115.jpg)
1827 - Partnership between Chickering and Stewart dissolved.
1830 - Chickering partnered with John Mackay, a sea captain who sourced materials from South America for the pianos.
1839 - “Chickering & Mackays” produced pianos under new name with John Mackay’s son William Mackay joining the partnership.
1841 - Chickering and the Mackay family partnership dissolved. Pianos manufacturing during this short window of time as “Chickering & Mackays” are very rare and valuable today. [3]
Chickering Sons Piano Serial Numbers
1852 - “Chickering & Sons” became the new company name when Chickering’s sons George, Frank and Thomas joined as partners.
1853 - Jonas Chickering died and sons continued business.
1908 - “Chickering & Sons” sold to America Piano Company and continued producing Chickering pianos.
1932 - America Piano Company and Aeolian Piano Company merged and continued producing Chickering pianos.
1985 - The Aeolian-American Piano Corporation went out of business, ending the Chickering piano brand production.
Chickering & Sons Piano Technology
As one of the most popular piano brands of the 19th century, Chickering & Sons was well known for the quality of their instruments and several key advancements to grand piano technology. Most notably, Jonas Chickering added a single, cast iron plate to the piano, which is now standard on all pianos today. [4] This iron frame helped support higher string tensions for grand pianos. [5]
Additionally, Chickering was credited with inventing a new string deflection technique that stacked strings over one another for space saving in square pianos. For these advancements, Chickering & Sons was given many awards, including the Imperial Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1867, by Emperor Napoleon III for their contribution to music. [6]
Chickering pianos were the preferred concert piano of its time until Steinway’s rise to prominence in the early 1900s. [7] As a means to promote their craftsmanship and piano quality, Chickering owned and operated a concert hall both in Boston and in New York city. In fact, Abraham Lincoln even brought several Chickering pianos into the White House to be played by the first family.
Restoring a Chickering Piano
The early history of the Chickering & Sons piano brand in America adds to the value of many of their pianos today. As one of the first piano manufacturers in America in the 1800s, Chickering & Sons produced pianos which now serve as unique, early-American musical artifacts.
Depending on the year of production and condition, unrestored Chickering pianos can range in value between $500-$4,000. Particularly those pianos which can be dated back to when the company started as Stewart & Chickering and then Chickering & Mackays, the restored piano value can be in the mid $30,000.
As with any piano and brand, it is critical to consider historical accuracy during restoration. At Lindeblad, our team has 19th century piano expertise. We understand the characteristics of the original production period and ensure the restoration project is done with precision and attention to detail.
Do you have a Chickering & Sons piano?
Talk with one of our team members today about its value!
References:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Chickering, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickering_%26_Sons
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4yfS1bEHz8
[3] http://antiquepianoshop.com/online-museum/chickering-sons/
[4] https://www.chuppspianos.com/services/grand-piano-parts/plate/
[5] https://archive.org/details/grandsquareuprig00chic
[6] http://www.total-piano-care.com/chickering-and-sons.html
[7] http://www.sweeneypiano.com/interstate/manufacturers/chickering%20_pianos.cfm