A Victorian enamel trade sign from the start of last century, possibly earlier. The shop sign was for John Brinsmead & Sons Pianos. John Brinsmead & Sons was one of England’s premier piano manufacturers. The firm was originally established in 1836 as “John Brinsmead”. The name of the firm was changed to “John Brinsmead & Sons” in 1861 when his sons Edgar and John, Jr. joined the firm. John Brinsmead & Sons was known to build very well made pianos and they were widely distributed across several European countries. Instruments by Brinsmead & Sons were often very elaborate and quite costly. The company British Enamelled Iron Co Birmingham, England ,built the first factory specifically devoted to enamelled iron sign making in 1889 at Selly Oak, Birmingham. As mentioned on the website ‘Street Jewellery’, it had twelve furnaces for fusing the enamel, two scaling furnaces, as the iron required to be scaled and stretched, and a large printing room, plus a huge area for steampipe drying. The company also smelted its own enamels and colour oxides.