Square Piano

This piano was made by the venerable Philadelphia company Loud & Brothers. Piano manufacturing was one of the leading industries in nineteenth century America as the growing middle-class purchased instruments for their homes. Many U.S. cities boasted a thriving industry, and for a time Loud & Brothers was one of the country's leading firms alongside Chickering in Boston and steinway in New York. This elaborately decorated square piano is similar in its decorative treatment to an upright piano by Loud & Brothers also in The Met's collection (1976.317.1).


Technical description: Rectangular mahogany lid and rosewood (exterior) and satinwood (interior) veneered case with rounded corners, decorated with gilt borders (retouched in spots) and floral, acanthus, and scroll work; rests on four turned and deeply reeded legs with brass casters and decorated brass rings; carved, gilded scrolls below case next to front legs concealing drawers; gilded metal moldings; compass FF-f4 (73 keys), ivory accidentals, damper pedal on "fifth leg" (missing), which raised dampers; pinblock veneered with bird's-eye maple; heavily threaded pierced and unpierced tuning pins; English double action with intermediate lever and single escapement; crank-type dampers; double-strung throughout, lowest eight notes wound.