At the end of the last emailed Mechanical Music Digest I saw the
announcement of a Welte-Mignon grand at auction.  The piano is in an
auction house, Dargate Auction Gallery LLC, that is about two miles
from our museum.  It is a 5'1' Stieff piano with a highly carved set
of legs that are of the "stretcher" type.  But the only thing left 
in it that makes it a player is the drawer.  All the other player
mechanism has been removed.

When I asked if the rest of the mechanism could be obtained he said,
"Maybe."  There was someone who thought they had a claim to the estate
and at some point they found they didn't and the mechanism was removed
at that point, and the auctioneer thinks that person wants to bid on it
to try to get it back.  I don't know for sure if that person was the
one who removed the mechanism.  It could have been removed because of
the sheer weight of having to pick up the piano bodily to place it on
the stretcher type leg system, or to take it off of the leg system to
move it.  In any case, it isn't there and anyone bidding on it should
be aware of that.

The same auctioneer does have a Steinway art case Duo-Art grand that
he is advertising as a Louis XV.  It doesn't have the curvy legs but
the double legs with the carving at the edges where they join the
case.  (I get Louis XV and XVI mixed up.)  A picture of a very similar
piano is in Bowers' Encyclopedia.

The bridges and plate are fine.  The player action, motor, some levers
and some other pieces are in a box under the piano, but everything
seems to be there except for one junction block which is easily made.
The case needs work as there is veneer missing on parts of the cheeks
and some minor damage to the front edges of the case, but the rest of
the case seems to be in good shape only needing refinished.

The auctioneer is advertising it as "burled" but I think the panels
on the side are of a birds eye type veneer with the rest of the case
being mahogany.  Everything is finished with a kind of orangeish brown
finish, that reminds me of "fruitwood" type stain.

Bidding is starting out at $3,000.  The last time the piano was
auctioned the bidding had gone up to $7,000 or so but something
happened and the winner wasn't able to pay for it, so it has gone up
for auction again.  I wouldn't mind owning it except that I couldn't
come up with the opening bid and I have enough projects.  Both of these
pianos are on eBay Live Auction.  The auction will be May 16, 17, 18.

Tony Marsico
Bayernhof Museum,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania