The
Piano World
Restoring the Unrestorable
|
Restoring the Unrestorable |
|
NEW ITEMS: |
Julius Bauer This piano is no longer for sale. This one of a kind piano is about the rarest piano in the world. It was begun in 1885 by the Julius Bauer Company in Chicago. It was completed for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition or the World's Fair in Chicago. It is extensively carved, with cameos of Wagner, Liszt, Beethoven, and Mozart. with the names of Haydn and Bach also carved on the flat side. Besides the cranes, angels and cherubs carved into it, the whole thing is covered in the rarest of Circassian Walnut. The story is that the Circassian Forest was planted by the Roman Legions camped by the Black Sea because they liked to eat the Walnuts. The trees all had very interesting grain in the wood and the trees by the water's edge had the busiest grain of all. The forest was discovered by furniture makers in the late 1800's and Circassian Walnut became one of the most desired woods in the world. We are told that the trees at the water's edge were all gone by 1907 and the rest of the forest was gone by the twenties. There will be no more Circassian Walnut. There was a veneer expert that told the owner of this piano that this piano should be appraised at $1.5 Million if it did not have a piano in the case just appraising the veneer alone. This is why we often call it the Million Dollar Piano. Often you find furniture in this wood but you will notice that there are usually large patches in the veneer that are often hand grained. This piano has no large patches. I can find no patches larger than a dime and they are filled with more of the correct veneer. Unfortunately, we cannot find a signature of the artist who did the carving. If it is there it has eluded us. Does anyone recognize the style as that associated with a known carver? The piano has been fully restored with all new Renner action and hammers. It has been displayed in the St. Louis City Museum for a year where a concert pianist played it a few hours each week. It is a concert quality piano that awes everyone who hears and sees it. After being the only grand in the Julius Bauer Exhibit at the World's Fair, it was sold to a family in Chicago in 1895 as a birthday present for their 5 year old daughter. That little girl sold it to its present owner when she was 95 years old and moving to a smaller place. The present owner has had it for some years and had Piano World restore the action with all Renner. The Stringing was done earlier in the Chicago area in the Keylard shop.
You will notice that Circassian veneer is even under the carvings.
The one problem was someone who refinished the lid, music rack and fallboard back in 1975. That was when the finish products were poor quality after the petroleum shortages. The finish after 25 years was cloudy and turning yellow and crazing. Since we have a refinisher who specializes in "lost-art" finishes, he has begun refinishing all the parts that were messed up with modern finishes. The body of the case and the legs were never touched. They still have their original Shellac finish on them. The refinished pieces are all being finished in Shellac once again. You will see from the pictures below what a huge difference it makes. Below the gingerbread rack still has the 70's finish on it while the music desk panel has Shellac once again.
The razor blade shows that the veneer was loose on the music rack. That has been repaired as well.
The Fallboard sits on the lid. You will notice the luster that Shellac gives the wood, while the old lacquer below on the lid is foggy and yellow in color.
|
|
If you think a good technician is expensive, just try a bad one.
|
