Made with a rosewood veneered case inlaid with cut brass, the piano was valued at £30,000-50,000 and sold for £62,000 (plus premium) at Piano Auctions in London on April 6.
Bidding at Holborn’s Conway Hall in London, was taken up by two serious contenders - one from overseas, the other a representative of The Royal Pavilion and Museums Foundation. The latter completed the purchase with funding from the Art Fund, Arts Council England, Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and The Leche Trust. The piano could be on display at the Royal Pavilion as early as this weekend.
Commenting on the acquisition, the chair of Brighton & Hove’s economic development and culture committee Alan Robins said: “Prince Regent’s piano has long been on a wish list of desirable assets for the Royal Pavilion and so we’re thrilled to be bringing it back to its rightful home.”
The piano had been in The Colt Clavier Collection in Kent and was consigned for sale by the executors of the estate of Charles F Colt’s widow, Lore Barbara Colt, who died last year.
