1853 chickering piano

[1853chickeringsquare]

i have a 1853 chickering piano im wanting to know what it may be worth i have some pics of it on this website site please only reply with positive post on this subject it is made of rosewood and ivory they are both on the verge of being extinct and also it has a beautiful iron plate. it  was made the year jonas chickering passed away.its in eceptional condition for its age. id say its a 9 on a 1 to 10 scale to see images of it click on this link                                                                                                                                                                                                                                https://www.mypianofriends.com/here-are-the-pictures-of-my-1853-chickering-square-grand-pia...-235684.html#1                           

[silverwoodpianos]

 Nice old square grand;for a period piece such as this I would encourage you to have this inspected by a local technician of your choice for value. Instruments of all types have varying values for different geographical locations.

For the most part these large squares were made of rosewood of some type; either the blonde rosewood quarter sawn or burled cut; even sometimes the Chinese rosewood or ink spot rosewood was used although the ink spot was less common for the large squares. Many of these civil war era instruments are still around.

Ivory was one of the more popular products used for key tops in the days of making these instruments. Ivory was used in North America until the moratorium in 1980 I believe. After that the key top makers would not supply this product any longer.
Best of luck

[patrick9jones]

Many presidents of USA had been served by this chickering piano including Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt.

[silverwoodpianos]

Indeed, a lot of famous Americans enjoyed the use of these instruments along with thousands of everyday people. The square was built in many different configurations; the one in this thread is a large square about 7-8 ft. long(250cm) and almost 4 ft wide(100cm).  A very popular instrument during the 1840-1900’s, there are still many of these around.

[1853chickeringsquare]

but not plenty still around from  the year jonas chickering passed. this one has 73 keys measures out at 5 ft 10 1/2 inches long 2ft 7 1/2 inches wide

[silverwoodpianos]

Very good then. A little smaller then the one I have here in blonde rosewood.Must be the other one here that is longer with the 7 legs.....

Having a square grand that happened to be built when the original owner of this company passed away does not translate into an increase in value. Thousands of these instruments were made in a variety of configurations and many still remain today in certain areas of the continent.

Appraisals are done for 3 main reasons;

 1.Value for re-sale.

2.Insurance purposes.

3.The settling of an estate.

Value will be determined by four  things.

#1. The present working condition of instrument.

#2. The geographical location of the instrument; in certain areas of the continent these instrument have more value.

#3.The local market conditions. How many other square grand’s are available? If there are a lot then the value of all of them would be low.

 #4.Most importantly the market is driven by itself. Whatever the instrument sells for is what the market will bear in your location. In another location the price might be different.

[1853chickeringsquare]

everything works on the piano good accept a few treble strings are broken  all the hammers are good.needs felt on a cpl dampers.but still has a very nice tone.i did lift the slideing board up and dusted  .it looks brand new on the inside now.it is truly a beautiful piece of art