Restoring The Commodore's Antique Steinway

The World's Fair held in Paris in 1867 must have been a sight to behold. The principal building was almost two football fields in length, containing a central pavilion crowned by a dome and surrounded by a garden. Over 50,000 exhibitors displayed in more than 100 buildings. Among the exhibitors were 400 piano manufacturers, all competing for the gold medals that would assure their brands' future dominance of the world piano market.

The enthusiasm for the four piano models displayed by Steinway & Sons of New York was overwhelming. Steinway won two gold medals, endorsements from European royalty, and praise from Franz Liszt and other great pianists. The Steinway piano was so wildly popular that the magazine Harper's Weekly published a cartoon showing crowds fighting to get to a Steinway piano. The cartoon's caption read: "Sudden Mania to become Pianists created upon hearing Steinway's pianos at the Paris Exhibition".

Such was the popularity of the Steinway piano that in 1869 Matthew Fontaine Maury, then Chairman of the Physics Department at Virginia Military Institute, sent two of his daughters to New York to purchase a Steinway for their home in Lexington, VA. Matthew F. Maury was a former director of the US Naval Observatory and Commodore of the Confederate Navy. He was awarded medals by European heads of state for his achievements, and honored with the nickname "Pathfinder of the Seas" for his groundbreaking work on ocean currents. Commodore Maury had settled in Lexington to pursue his academic interests. When the Steinway arrived at his home, Commodore Maury excitedly wrote his son-in-law saying "the Piano has come - all safe- Elegant. Everybody pleased with it, and Elie is now making it "talk"! Thanks."

My introduction to the Maury Steinway came almost twenty years ago, when I received a call from Keith Gibson, noted author and Executive Director of Museum Programs for Virginia Military Institute. Col. Gibson had located the Maury piano, which had been stored for decades under a porch. The piano had been used by the Maury family until about 1912, when it was sold to the Christian family. In 1991, the Rev. William Christian, whose mother had bought the piano, offered the instrument to V.M.I.. Generous funding by Dr. J. Battle Haslam, a 1961 V.M.I. grad, provided money for restoration. Aware of my experience restoring antique pianos, Col. Gibson asked me to evaluate the piano for possible restoration.

My first impression of the piano was that it should be doused with gasoline and set afire. The rosewood veneer was peeling from the case, ivory was missing from many keys, there was termite damage to the lid and legs, the strings were rusted, felts were moth-eaten, and the piano action had completely seized due to verdigris in the action's pivot points. I was aware, however, that this was a historically important instrument that had been owned by an historically important man.

Before I accept a restoration job, I first establish the client's expectations. Col. Gibson made his expectations clear from the beginning: he did not want a cosmetic clean-up that would be suitable only for display: he wanted this instrument to play. My logic was telling me: "run away"; but my instincts told me that this was my piano to restore. Instantly, I didn't want anyone else to be in charge of this restoration. This was an opportunity for me to pay homage to history. This instrument deserved thoughtful and skilled restoration, and I intended to provide just that.

Restoring an antique piano is more similar to restoring an antique automobile than restoring antique furniture. A piano is a machine with thousands of moving wooden parts. The Antiques Roadshow admonition that "refinishing hurts value" does not apply to pianos. The challenge with an antique piano is to maintain its historical integrity while insuring that it will play music. Hippocrates' admonition "first, do no harm" must always stay in the mind of the restorer in choosing materials and techniques. In consultation with Col. Gibson, a restoration plan was developed.

The restoration took more than a year. The piano was completely disassembled; thousands of parts were numbered and labeled. Unusual configurations were photographed. Strings were sent to a string maker for duplication. Action felts and cloths were painstakingly removed and replaced. The case veneer was repaired, and brass case parts were re-plated. A new tuning pin block was installed, and the bridges and soundboard repaired. The case was refinished, and then the piano was re-strung, the action re-assembled, and the piano regulated and tuned.

The sound of the resulting instrument surprised everyone. Typically, square pianos have uneven tone with overpowering bass notes and weak treble notes. The Maury Steinway was remarkably even in tone for a square piano. No wonder Steinway received such accolades at the 1867 Paris Exhibition.

Due to renovations at the museum, the piano was placed into storage at V.M.I. until its official dedication in June of 1995. Dr. Haslam was the first to play the piano, performing the Doxology and the Navy Hymn, choices that would have pleased Commodore Maury. Following Dr. Haslam, the song "Ashokan Farewell", the theme from the PBS series The Civil War, was performed by Ginny Hutchinson, great-granddaughter of Commodore Maury.

Nearly twenty years after the initial restoration, the Maury Steinway is still exhibited at the V.M.I. Museum in Lexington. It is occasionally played, and the piano's care is under the watchful eye of Col. Gibson. Once again, Commodore Maury's piano "talks". I am glad I played a part in restoring the pianos voice.

The Antique Refinishing Myth

We have all heard the stories: An elderly couple finds a very nice highboy at a garage sale, but it has a bad finish. They take the highboy to a refinisher who strips and refinishes it in a beautiful mahogany. After the refinishing, the couple finds that what they have is a 200 year old Philadelphia Highboy that would have been worth $230,000 if they had just left it alone and not refinished it. Because it was refinished, the value is only $23,000.

Hogwash. I don’t believe a word of it. This scenario may happen occasionally, but it is extremely rare, because such furniture is extremely rare. Stories like this one have gone viral on the internet to the point that everyone believes that "don’t refinish antiques" is the truth. Of course, Antiques Roadshow has perpetuated the myth. Or have they? I regularly hear from clients that they "heard on Antiques Roadshow that refinishing antique furniture hurts its’ value". Did they really? In a letter to Professional Refinishing Magazine in June 2002, Peter Cook, Executive Producer of Antiques Roadshow, said this: "Well-conceived and well executed refinishing and restoration usually enhances the value of just about any piece of old furniture. Exceptions are those rare (often museum-quality) pieces that have somehow survived in great original condition".

As a customer once said to me: "I don’t care about its’ value. I want to use it now. Broken and ugly is still broken and ugly, and if it doesn’t look nice I won’t have it in my home". With Mr. Cook’s guidelines in mind, there are three questions we can ask to help us decide whether or not to refinish our antique furniture.

Let’s start with question number one: is it really an antique? These days, words like antique, vintage, and heirloom are used interchangeably and often not very accurately. In the US, an antique is technically an item that is over 100 years old and at least 80% original. If you suspect that an item might be a rare, museum-quality piece, have it inspected by an expert. If the item is not a rare, museum-quality piece, then it is a candidate for complete refinishing.

Question number two: is it valuable? Just because something is old, doesn’t mean it’s valuable. In addition to being old, antiques can have both intrinsic (of the item) and extrinsic (outside the item) value. Intrinsic value elements include condition, authenticity, quality, style and material. Extrinsic value is a matter of rarity (supply) and demand for the item. If an item is old but very common, it’s likely not worth very much. If an item is rare but made of cheap materials and in poor condition, it is likely not worth very much. If an antique is rare, authentic, in good condition, and well made, it may be a valuable item. Old, funky looking furniture does not have very much market appeal, so refinishing may actually make an item more valuable. As Mr. Cook said, “refinishing enhances the value of just about any piece of old furniture”.

Our final question is: who is going to do the refinishing? Refer again to Mr. Cook’s statement: "well conceived and well executed refinishing". Refinishing and restoring antique furniture is a skilled trade, not a do-it-yourself project. The do-it-yourself supplies and materials available down at the Home Depot are completely inappropriate for restoring antiques. The "instant refinishers" and polyurethane finishes, even when applied according to the directions, make the furniture look cheap and covered in plastic. Sure, if you refinish the piece, the furniture may look better than it did. But, a professional refinisher knows techniques to bring out the beauty of the wood in a way that an amateur never could. Remember, you are looking for a refinishing job that is well conceived and well executed.

Should you refinish your antique furniture? Unless the antique in question is a rare, museum-quality piece, you can be comfortable that refinishing will enhance its’ value, not destroy its’ value.

What Antique Dealers Can Learn From Encyclopedia Britannica

In 1993, Encyclopedia Britannica had the most profitable year in the company's history. Two years later, the company was nearly bankrupt and was sold for below book value. What happened in those two years? Most folks would say that Britannica was done in by Microsoft Encarta. In 1993, Microsoft purchased rights to the Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia, created an electronic version, changed the name to Encarta, and began bundling Encarta with new computers. Encarta could be purchased off-the-shelf for around $50. Britannica sold for around $1200. Competition from Encarta killed Britannica.

Or, did it? Did the fact that Encarta was faster, more accessible and cheaper kill Britannica, or was something greater at work here? My contention is that there was something greater at work: a paradigm shift. By paradigm shift, I mean a complete change in thinking or belief system that allows the creation of a new condition previously thought impossible. Britannica was approached by Microsoft in the late 1980's regarding the Encarta project, but Britannica declined to become involved. Britannica felt that involvement in an electronic encyclopedia would hurt print sales. It never occurred to Britannica that Encarta could wipe out their print sales entirely. The public experienced a complete change in thinking about encyclopedias. For slightly more than the cost of a set of encyclopedias, a family could buy a computer with an encyclopedia. The world was moving away from the library and into the den. Britannica didn't see the paradigm shift in their industry.

In America today, there is a paradigm shift occurring that will completely restructure the antiques business. What are the main drivers of the new paradigm? There are two: a soon-to-be crushing overabundance of supply, and universal distribution.

Let's start by examining the supply issue. Currently, there are seven generational cohorts in America. For our purposes, a cohort can be defined as a group that yields economic power. The largest cohort is the Baby Boomers. Currently, Boomers are acting as caregivers and executors for their parents generation, the Builders. Builders, for the most part, did not collect antiques; Boomers inherited the household goods of their grandparents and parents. Boomers were avid collectors of everything. Having grown up on stories of the Great Depression and Wartime Sacrifice, Boomers as a generation took great pride in their material possessions. There are more antiques and collectibles in private collections than in all the antique stores in America.

As a result of population shift, there is a tsunami of supply on the way. In 1995, the death rate in America was about 8 per 1,000. These are the Builders being laid to rest. Most of their antiques and collectibles went to their children, the Boomers. But, by 2016, the death rate in America is predicted to be 26 per 1,000. The death rate will triple, and this time it will be the Boomers being laid to rest. It is the Boomers that have been hoarding the antiques of three generations. Antiques and collectibles will be dumped on the market at an alarming rate.

Who will buy these antiques and collectibles, and where will they buy them? The generations following the Boomers, Generations X and Y (Millennials) simply aren't as interested in antiques as their parents were. These generations have observed their parents get the rewards of hard work: houses, cars, and material wealth. Yet they have seen the costs of their parents' success in terms of broken marriages, absentee parenting, and an epidemic of stress related illnesses. Studies have shown that Gen X and Y are more concerned with personal relationships and lifestyle than money and material goods. For those who do collect, don't expect them to come to your store unless your store becomes a social gathering place. Gens X and Y may love the idea of an antique store, but they no longer need antique stores to make a purchase. Their purchases will be made online, from the privacy of their homes. Like the Britannica model, the paradigm is moving from Main Street to one's den. Today, in the age of super abundance, and 24/7 access, no one is waiting anxiously for the next big auction or sale catalog.

In his book Paradigms, the Business of Discovering the Future, author Joel Barker claims that in a paradigm shift, everyone goes back to zero. Everyone. Great big dealers, itty bitty dealers, auctioneers; everyone. The playing field is leveled. Opportunity abounds for those dealers that comprehend shift and go with the flow. A brand-new thought process is required. Antique Dealer, are you moving ahead, or falling behind?

Three Ways An Antique Business Can Surive The Downturn

For those who do not follow the antique trade, let me bring you up to speed: the antique business is in the toilet. Prices are at their lowest level in a decade, following the boom of the 1990s. Antique furniture is selling for 70-80% less than it sold for in 1998. Inventories are piling up. The customer base is shrinking, because the new Gen X buyers are not that interested in antiques, especially large furniture pieces.

Many antique dealers are giving up the trade. Other dealers swear that the downturn is just part of the normal business cycle, and that sales will rebound. These optimists point out that with prices so low, new buyers are attracted to collecting antiques.

Certainly the market has dropped; I cannot argue that point. And, certainly many dealers are going out of business. The question on everyones' mind is: which dealers will survive?

My opinion is that what we have in the current market is a weaning out of weak dealers. When I owned retail stores, I saw new dealerships jump onto the "good times" bandwagon when the economy was booming, and fall out when times got tough. I also saw well-established dealers get lazy and ignore the principles of good retailing. Those lazy dealers did not survive tough times either.

What does a dealer need to do in order to survive in the present climate? There are three basic principles of good retailing that, when applied consistently, will always work in these circumstances. They are: 1. Increase inventory turnover rate 2. Adjust your inventory mix. 3. Expand your customer base. Right now I hear a collective groan, as if the entire retail universe is saying "Duh!". So, let me explore each of these in more detail and you will see where I am going with this.

For those that are new to the concept of inventory turnover, let me start by explaining what inventory turnover is. Inventory turnover reflects how often your inventory is sold and re-purchased (turned over) within an accounting period. The formula is Inventory Turnover = Cost Of Goods Sold / Average Dollar Value of Inventory On-hand. Turning inventory fast is good for cash flow and profits. Here is an example; (these figures are made up to make the math easy). Let us say you buy a table for $1000, and you plan to sell it for $2,000. Tables are not selling well, and it takes you one year to sell the table for $2,000. Your gross profit is $1,000 on your inventory investment of $1,000. But, let us say you sell the table in six months for $2,000, re-invest your original $1,000 into another table, which you sell six months later. You have turned your table inventory twice. Your inventory investment has remained at $1,000, but now in the same period (one year) you have made $2,000 gross profit on your original $1,000 investment. The key here is to turn your inventory as fast as possible. That way, you get a bigger return on your inventory investment.

Turning your inventory quickly leads right into the next principle: adjust your inventory mix. This is the point on which many retailers fail. Truth be told, too many retailers are in love with their inventory. They have a store full of "neat stuff" that makes their store look good. They insist on getting their price. So, the merchandise sits on the shelves. If merchandise sits on the shelf, inventory turns slowly. If inventory turns slowly, cash is short. If cash is short, they cannot pay their bills. If they cannot pay their bills, they are out of business. Lesson: your inventory should be turning at least four to six times per year. You can keep a few premium items in stock, as long as you can afford the investment. Break your inventory down into profit centers, and track the performance of each profit center. Profit centers that do not meet your turnover requirements have to go. Liquidate the inventory if you must, but put your inventory dollars into something that will sell quickly. There are software programs available to help you track demand on ebay and other internet sales sites. Buy some and learn how to use it.

Lastly, expand your customer base. This would seem an obvious way to increase sales, but you would be surprised how many bricks-and-mortar stores are still focused on foot traffic and not their internet presence. I am not talking about selling a few items on ebay; I am talking about making your entire business focus on internet sales. If you are stocking a lot of large items that cannot be easily shipped, get rid of them. Aggressively plan an internet sales campaign and include as many online sales venues as you can afford.

Summary: adjust your inventory mix to carry easily shipped items with established demand, and promote your sales in as many venues as possible.