Square Piano

Ferdinand Weber German, active Ireland

Not on view

This unusual square piano has a mahogany case on a folding stand. There are two sets of hammers inside the case, one with a relatively hard striking surface and the other with soft, buff, leather coverings. A hand stop to the left of the keyboard shifts from the hard hammers to the soft hammers. A second hand stop raises the dampers. Two pedals, which are later additions, link to the hand stops and accomplish the same tasks. The mechanism is the German Stoßmechanik action. The keyboard has 59 keys (FF-f3), with ivory naturals and ebony accidentals.

Square Piano, Ferdinand Weber (German, Borstendorf, Saxony 1715–1784 Dublin), Mahogany, iron, brass, ivory, ebony, various materials., Irish

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