Marshall and Wendell Antique Baby Grand Piano, 5' - Original Family Ownership

Description

Marshall and Wendell Antique Baby Grand Piano - 5-foot Baby Grand. Original Family Ownership.
Case is original artist-painted and rubbed gold leaf finish. Local San Francisco Bay Area Pickup Only.  Los Gatos Location.
Plays well. This is model 28 - serial number 99455 shown on original bill of sale from 1924.  Very good antique condition. Original bench included. MONEY REFUNDED UPON INSPECTION IF NOT SATISFIED.
Marshall & Wendell built high quality, expensive pianos until 1953, and they are considered some of the finest pianos that were built in the early to mid 20th Century.
The pianos manufactured by Marshall & Wendell were recognized globally for their quality and won awards at the Pan American in 1901, Seattle-Yukon in 1909, the Panama Pacific Exposition at San Francisco, and the great exposition held at Rio de Janeiro to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the independence of the Brazilian Republic.
The Marshall & Wendell Piano Company was originally establi
shed as Marshall &Traver
inAlbany, NY in 1836. Marshall & Traver was a retailer of pianos,organs and related musical instruments. Marshall & Traver began building instruments under their own name in 1853. Their factory was located in Albany. In 1855 Mr. Amos C. James was admitted into partnership and the firm was reorganized
.In 1
868 James & Traver withdrew from the firm and Mr. C. V.Wendell was admitted into partnership. The firm was then organized as“Marshall & Wendell”. In 1882, the firm was officially incorporated as “The Marshall & Wendell Piano Company“.
During the late 19th and early 20th Century, Marshall & Wendell built several lines of square, grand, and upright pianos, all of superior quality.
In 1900 the firm moved headquarters from Albany to Rochester, New York and continued rapid growth and success. After the turn-of-the-century, Marshall & Wendell instruments continued tobe considered to be made of superior quality and fine craftsmanship.Their small grand pianos were particularly popular because of their exceptional design and tone quality. Marshall & Wendell specialized in building elaborate “art-case” pianos in historic and period design styles.
Marshall & Wendell retained their own art department of skilled painters and carvers who specialized in building custom-designed instruments on special order. In the early 20th Century, it was not uncommon for a wealthy client to visit the Marshall & Wendell, choose the instrument they preferred among all others, then have the factory commission their art department build a custom cabinet around the instrument they chose. Once a piano was chosen for it’s tone quality, a small fortune was then spent to have the cabinet custom made to suit the client’s décor! Many of these custom-built Marshall & Wendell pianos were incredibly expensive to produce and were remarkable works of art.
Like most major American piano manufacturers,Marshall & Wendell was absorbed into the Aeolian Corporation
dueto the Great Depression. Aeolian continued to produce the Marshall & Wendell brand name until the 1950s.