Antique Steinway Soundboard Decals (again!)

[Greg Anderson]

Hi all,

A little while ago I posted a note looking for any information on the proper sound board decal for an 1866 8'5" Steinway grand (I also asked if this would have been called a "Style 4").

Since then, no-one has been able to show or describe to me any decal that is historically appropriate.  A Steinway representative claims that all of their pianos had decals.  My current belief is that sound board decals were not used on Steinways at all until some later date, which I'm guessing was close to 1876.

If anyone has ever seen a Steinway decal that pre-dates 1876, I'd *love* to hear about it.  I'd also be interested to find out when such varnish decals became available for any manufacturer.

Here are my data points so far:

	- Decals Unlimited says their oldest model decal is the #4106, which includes a medal from the 1876 Centennial Exposition
	- My 1866 sound board has no trace of any decal, but I'm not sure the board is original (though it looks it ;-)
	- Charles Hubert, a PTG member from Kensington Connecticut, has an 1864 Steinway Grand that he says has all of its original bits, including its original sound board.  This board has no decal either.  (Charles has some nice pictures of his piano at http://www.forsale1864steinwaygrandpiano.evisionsite.com/)
	- On this list we've just heard from Ed Mashburn, of Piano Services of Florida, who is restoring an 1871 Steinway.  Now I've got him thinking about decals too, because his doesn't have one either.

So far, all of the (admittedly limited) data I've seen points to Steinway sound board decals being a later development.  (Of course the real question raised by all of this is whether there is anyone on earth who gets as obsessed about such historical minutia as I do. ;-)

Until I find a real example of an 1860's era decal, I'm going to leave one off of my piano.  But I'd sure love to know for sure.  ;-)

Best Regards,
Greg
___________________________________________________________________
Greg Anderson                                 greg@PlanetBeagle.com