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Correct dating of early J. Blüthner pianos

For early Blüthner instruments up to around 1880, the serial number information in most specialist publications is incorrect, i.e. especially in the early years, the numbers given are far too high or instruments are dated too old. We have been working for a long time on older Blüthner instruments in particular and have now compiled a presumably more correct chronological classification of the early J. Blüthner instruments with corresponding evidence, which has been confirmed in principle by friendly feedback from Blüthner GmbH Leipzig and some specialist colleagues.

Examples from the literature with incorrect information, as at October 2024

We would be pleased if you could send us further documents or pictures of Blüthner instruments with serial numbers below 10,000, especially below 1,000, to support our work on this subject. We are also interested in purchasing beautiful early Blüthner instruments and other documents. The following picture shows part of the original Blüthner documents on which our research is based, in addition to a large collection of data on surviving Blüthner pianos.

Examples of sources for Blüthner

In general, serial number lists - insofar as they have survived at all - only give an approximate date as the year of manufacture, also depending on when the manufacturer assigned the numbers during production, e.g. when a frame, the detent or only at the so-called 'marriage', i.e. the joining of detent and frame, etc. was made. It is not uncommon for work to be carried out on stock and for a component to be used for the first time or reused later, which can also result in noticeable deviations. The time of delivery to the company's own showrooms or to one of the dealers was usually later and even then new instruments were sometimes on sale for a long time before they were sold for the first time. A serial number therefore does not always indicate the exact date of completion. In addition, in the piano trade in the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was already common practice to change serial numbers retrospectively in order to make an instrument appear younger and therefore more valuable. Here is an example of a badly manipulated Blüthner instrument in our stock.

Example of a bad serial number forgery on the Blüthner grand piano 1388

Julius Blüthner was born on March 11, 1824 in Falkenhain in the Lossa Valley, about 40 km northeast of Leipzig, and died in Leipzig on April 13, 1910 at the advanced age of 86. Before he founded his own pianoforte factory on November 7, 1853, he had completed an apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker with his father, worked as a cabinetmaker in Zeitz - and at the pianoforte factories Hölling and Spangenberg (Zeitz) and Bretschneider (Leipzig) (source: Wikipedia).

Julius Blüthner portrait (Grassi Museum Leipzig) and piano plaque from 1867

He founded his company in a rented workshop with 'brilliant credentials and a fortune of 1660 thalers, 2 new groschen and 1.25 pfennigs' and started with 3 cabinetmakers with the aim of making 'new fortepianos and grand pianos of German and English construction' and then selling them' (source: Blüthner prospectuses). German and English construction primarily meant the types of action common at the time.

Differences between German and English actions (Blüthner/Gretschel, 1909)

On July 6, 1856, Julius Blüthner received a patent for his self-developed action, which is still called the Blüthner patent action today. Early on, however, Blüthner also offered an action based on the Erard principle, which could be chosen by the customer and is often found in early Blüthner concert grand pianos. A report from 1876 states: "Three quarters of the grand pianos produced are fitted with Blüthner's patented action, the others are fitted with actions based on the ingenious, pleasing systems of an Erard or a Steinway.“.

Blüthner's actions (Blüthner/Gretschel, 1909)

In addition to the construction details, the inscriptions on the keyboard lid and on the soundboard emblem provide important clues to the dating of the instruments, as Blüthner - like most piano manufacturers - advertised the prizes and awards it had won on its instruments immediately after they were awarded. Blüthner received these first awards (source: 1903 anniversary publication):

1854 Gewerbeausstellung in München
1856 Patent für Mechanik
1865 Sächsisch-Thüringischen Gewerbe- und Industrieausstellung zu Merseburg
1865 Ernennung zum Königl. Sächs. Hofpianoforte-Fabrikanten.
1867 I. Preis für Norddeutschland auf der Weltausstellung in Paris
1867 I. Preis Industrieausstellung in Chemnitz
1870 I. Preis Cassel Allgemeine Industrie-Ausstellung
1871 Ernennung zum Königl. Sächsischen Kommerzienrat
1873 Höchste Auszeichnung Wiener Weltausstellung
1873 Patent für Blüthners Aliquot-Piano
1876 Centennialmedaille Weltausstellung in Philadelphia für 6 Blüthner-Pianos mit Aliquot-System

The Blüthner instruments before 1856 bore only the name Blüthner Leipzig and no awards or any reference to the trade exhibition in Munich. According to friendly information from Blüthner in Leipzig, there is a surviving Blüthner piano with the serial number 12 and also other pianos with two-digit serial numbers. However, to date we have no photos of a Blüthner piano built before mid-1856.

All instruments built after July 6, 1856 bear the inscription 'Patent Julius Blüthner Leipzig' on the keyboard lid and an emblem on the soundboard with the inscription 'Forte-Piano-Fabrik von Julius Blüthner in Leipzig - Königl. Sächs. patentierte Mechanik - Patent vom 6. Juli 1856.

Blüthner from mid-1856

Die nächste sichtbare Änderung in der Beschriftung erfolgte erst ab 1865 nach der Ernennung zum Königl. Sächs. Hofpianoforte-Fabrikanten. Die Blüthner Instrumente ab 1865 tragen im Klaviaturdeckel ‘Julius Blüthner König.Sächs. Hof-Pianofortefabrikant Leipzig’ mit einer Plakette zwischen Hof- und Pianofortefabrikant, die auch auf der Ernennungsurkunde zu sehen ist. Auf dem Resonanzboden ist bis 1867 weiterhin das Emblem mit dem Hinweis auf die patentierte Mechanik aus 1856.

Blüthner keyboard cover lettering from 1865 onwards

It was not until 1867 that the emblem on the soundboard changed and now also showed the awards from Paris and Chemnitz. In addition, from 1867 onwards, upright and grand pianos often feature magnificent brass plaques, which also show the awards from Chemnitz and Paris.

Blüthner soundboard emblem and plaque 1867

The soundboard emblem changes again in 1870 with the addition of the prize awarded in Cassel, and the lettering on the keyboard lid also changes so that it now only reads Blüthner. There are also mixed forms of various combinations at all times of this not yet industrial production, presumably depending on the progress of production and available materials.

Blüthner keyboard lettering and soundboard emblem from 1870 onwards

The next change came in 1876, after prizes were won at the World Exhibition in Phildalphia (USA) for the aliquot patent invented in 1873. From then on, this was also indicated on the soundboard emblem with many medals and dates - and often also on a separate metal plaque.

Blüthner keyboard lettering and soundboard emblem from 1876 onwards

The emblems also changed later with further awards. The dating of Blüthner instruments from around 1880 is better based on the serial numbers mentioned in the specialist literature. This is also due to the fact that from the early 1870s Blüthner increasingly became one of the leading pianoforte factories with industrial production and there were more and more reports about Blüthner and advertising by Blüthner with details, such as the advertisement from 1885 celebrating the 25,000th instrument. In a large article in the 'Leipziger Illustrirte Zeitung' from 1871, the Blüthner pianoforte factory is enthusiastically described, including the following: "…vier große Säle zur Aufbewahrung der in Arbeit begriffenen Instrumente, 6 große Säle zur Ausstellung der fertigen Instrumente (…) In den Parterreräumen werden die Rasten (corpora) für die Instrumente angefertigt und dann macht jedes Instrument die verschiedenen Abteilungen durch bis es in fertiger Gestalt dem Chef zur letzten Revision vorgeführt werden kann.”.

Development into a pianoforte factory from 1870

In addition, from this time onwards, almost all Blüthner instruments have handwritten notes from the polisher, who was usually the last person to work on the instrument, so that this can be seen as the actual completion date of an instrument. On Blüthner grand pianos, this note can be found on the underside of the pull-out music stand.

Blüthner concert grand piano no. 21513 with completion date 10.05.1883 by the polisher Scherf

In 1880, Oscar Laffert founded the Zeitschrift für Instrumentenbau, published by Paul de Wit, which quickly became the central 'advertisement organ of the first rank', especially for piano making, and thus one of the most valuable sources for us today. In May 1876, Oscar Laffert wrote a thirty-page report on the Julius Blüthner pianoforte factory. It states: "After working for a time in various pianoforte factories, he began making pianos independently with 3 workers on November 7, 1853. The first grand piano was finished in February 1854, the second in March and so on for the next few months. (...) In February 1862, the five hundredth instrument was completed.". The anniversary publication from 1903 states "The three workers were diligent carpenters and worked as hard as they could, but the young master hardly allowed himself the bare minimum of sleep due to his eagerness to work. When his men came to work at 6 o'clock in the morning, he had already been working on the models for two hours and stayed at work until 10 and 11 o'clock at night. In the first year, he produced ten instruments, eight grand pianos and two upright pianos in the shape of a table.". If we take all these references together, we arrive at the following list of early Blüthner instruments, which differs significantly from what has been found in the literature to date.

Blüthner serial numbers 1853-1880

Further research will refine the picture. Incidentally, we also find similar things with other manufacturers. Even if this shows that some instruments are younger than previously thought, this does not change the value or significance of such an instrument. It is always a pleasure to play and listen to a well-restored early Blüthner piano. A beautiful example can be seen in this video, in which the pianist Ragna Schirmer plays on the restored Blüthner grand piano No. 486. According to our research, this is not from 1856 but from 1861, but it is still a wonderful early Blüthner.

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