This piano is proudly South African!
Read on to find out about this piano and how it evolved into a modern, bespoke piano uniquely painted for a client…
Serial numbers: 71368 & 259564. As Bernhard Steiner is a re-labelled brand name rather than a factory, the piano would be better described as being a Dietmann, having been manufactured in the Dietmann factory, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The piano has 88 keys, with a medium touch weight, and 3 pedals. Its dimensions are a height of 113 cm, a width of 148.5 cm and a depth of 56 cm.
Eshelby Pianos purchased this Bernhard Steiner Upright Pianoforte and stool in 2020. The piano had an exceptionally unusual oak case with much detail, we had not had a Bernard Steiner of this model before. The condition was superb without any case damage or internal wear to speak of, and it did not require much work beyond full servicing and minor details. The polish had patina type wear of a cracklier sort, but we felt this added character and should not have been seen as a fault.
bespoke piano!
Here are photographs of how the piano looked when we purchased it.
After seeing the piano online and – although already convinced that this was the piano he wanted – the potential purchases viewed and tested a variety of pianos at the Eshelby Pianos showrooms in November 2021. There was no question about which piano he wanted, this Bernard Steiner ticked all of his boxes in terms of structure and sound… but it needed to be made his!
The creative process began… Our client wanted a bolder appearance and had a unique vision of how this piano should look. After looking at several other pianos that Eshelby Pianos had finished painting with various techniques and types of paints. He had a clear idea of which colours he wanted and how the colour was going to be used: it had to be a specific shade of aqua green, distressed to show pink and having subtle cracks of a further undercoat revealed. Oddly enough, Jacqueline was wearing the shade of green and pink and he described what he wanted from those colours. We found the right green but opted for a brighter light pink over a dusty pink.
The piano was painted with a dark grey-brown undercoat, a middle coat of Granny B’s Candy Floss pink and a topcoat of Celtic Mist green. Then it was distressed to reveal the dark layer subtly, but the second layer of pink more so.
The photographs show the piano in a less distressed state and the colour looks much darker.
The client chose for the piano to be distressed to reveal more of the pink undercoat.
It was approved!
This piano truly is a bespoke piano custom painted to be unique whilst retaining its structure and internal workings.
It is proudly South African with its manufacture and revitalisation!
These photographs show how the piano looked outside with bright sunlight.
These photographs show how the piano looks inside, with less light reflecting on the piano.
The fabulous thing about chalk paint is how the shades of colour seem dynamic as they change with intensity of light and how it reflects on the paint.
Previously referenced DE 775, this Bernhard Steiner Upright piano was bespoke painted for a client and sold in 2022.
Are you imagining your own bespoke piano?
Take a look at our pianos under restoration page to view options of pianos that will need to be repolished, sprayed or painted.