Schiedmayer, J & P, Serial Nos

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1900	31000	1935	62101
1906	36700	1936	62335
1910	43000	1937	62641
1915	49500	1938	62863
1920	51800	1939	63108
1925	55600	1940	64000
1926	56700	1950	64200
1927	57600	1952	64800
1928	58700	1955	65555
1929	59600	1958	66405
1930	60200	1960	67005
1931	60800	1962	67205
1932	61200	1966	68905
1933	61600	1969	69623
1934	62000

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Schiedmayer: Short History

Petrof Pianos

Antonin Petrof studied the art of piano making with his uncle, Jan Heitzmann in Vienna. Returning to Bohemia in 1864 established the Petrof Piano Company and began building pianos. The following year his father’s joinery behind the Cathedral of Svaty Duch was repurposed to make it more suited to building pianos.

In 1874 Petrof pianos moved to larger facilities for manufacturing operations, eventually producing their own keyboards and actions. Business was steadily gathering momentum so that in 1894, they began exporting their pianos abroad, and were able to set up a service centre and warehouse in Vienna.  

Antonín Petrof was appointed in 1899 to be the court piano maker of Austria-Hungary. The growth of the business continue over the next 20 years so that Petrof expanded their foreign sales - selling to Japan, China, Australia and South America.

1928, Petrof together with the American company Steinway opened a subsidiary in London. When Petrof pianos won the gold medal at the World Exhibition 1934 in Brussels, the Petrof factory employed about 400 people. 

The 100,000th Petrof piano was produced in 1963 and has their research centre for continued scientific development. After a period of state ownership the company was privatised in 1998 and was returned to family control in 2001. 

Petrof Serial Nos.

Directory of Piano Makers

©Steve Burden

Welmar Serial Nos.

 

Year	Serial No.	Year	Serial No.
1925	13000	1970	70000
1930	16500	1972	72000
1935	20000	1974	74000
1938	21600	1976	76000
1940	23500	1978	78000
1946	46000	1980	80000
1948	48000	1982	82000
1950	50000	1984	84000
1952	52000	1986	86000
1954	54000	1988	107140
1956	56000	1990	107935
1958	58000	1992	108420
1960	60000	1994	109205
1962	62000	1996	109990
1964	64000	1998	110590
1966	66000	2000	110940
1968	68000	2002	111240

These serial numbers can be used only as a reference point.
An Exact date does not make a material difference to an assessment of a piano - a year or so out 120 years ago really is neither here more there.

The idea that 100% accuracy for all piano makers over a century ago is an interesting thought - but considering that all record keeping would be hand-written and kept in large ledger books, inaccuracies are likely. These records will be as reliable as the clerks whose job it was to keep them. The digital age of barcodes and scanned labels was still in the realm of science fiction. So we have to be content with our best guess numbers.

Back to the Piano Atlas

Welmar: Short History