Rare Steinway piano goes up for auction

The 1907 Steinway B grand piano, which is described as ‘the Rolex of pianos’, will go under the hammer at Alnwick Auctions on Sunday, with the proceeds going to St Oswald’s Hospice.

The piano is the most expensive item that Nigel Blagburn – who set up Alnwick Auctions – has put up for sale at the venue, which is based at Station Yard, close to Barter Books, and he is excited to see how much it will fetch for the charity.

A collection of vintage violins, also found during the clearance, will go under the hammer in the same sale this weekend and the proceeds of these will also go towards St Oswald’s.

The piano and the violins were discovered at the home of one of the hospice’s supporters.

The instruments, along with the property’s remaining items, were donated to St Oswald’s by a legacy supporter who lived in Morpeth.

The woman, whose link to the hospice is unknown, generously left all of her household belongings to the charity in her will, calling them ‘personal chattles’.

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