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Upright Harp Piano

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Upright Harp Piano

Date:
1843
Geography:
London, England, United Kingdom
Medium:
Various materials
Dimensions:
Case L. (perpendicular to keyboard): 74.5 cm (29-3/8 in.); W. (parallel to keyboard), excluding handles: 136.1 cm (53-5/8 in.);Total H. 196 cm (77-1/4); String L.: longest - 142.5 cm (56-1/8 in.), shortest ( 5 cm (2 in.), c2 (28.7 cm (11-3/8 in.);three octave W.: 49.1 cm (19-3/8 in.)
Classification:
Chordophone-Zither
Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. Greenfield Sluder, 1944
Accession Number:
44.58

This artwork is not on display

  • Description

    The short-lived Euphonicon (from Greek, "sweet-toned") was patented by John Stewart in 1841 and manufactured under his supervision. Hand-painted designs and gilded brackets soften the industrial aspect of the solid iron frame. The Macassar ebony base encloses 3 soundboxes that replace a normal sound board. Tuning is by means of screw-threaded rods reached by a long wrench. The 82 double-strung notes are sounded by soft, felted hammers; the top 23 notes lack dampers and vibrate sympathetically. Damper and una corda pedals modify the tone. Decorated on all sides, the Euphonicon can be free-standing. Delicate scrollwork and carving belie its great weight. Similar harp-pianos (so called because of the exposed strings) were popular in America around 1860.

  • Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

    Marking: 1) (on front of harp): Steward's//Patent//Euphonicon 2) (above keyboard, on plaque): Steward's Patent//Euphonicon//F. Beale and Co./Lion & Unicorn/201 Regent St.//London 3) (on three stickers on back of sounding board): Euphonicon/invented by John Steward/Manufactured under his guidance by F. Beale & Co, 201 Regent St.//Anno 1843/No. _______ 4) (on middle sticker): J. Steward 5) (marked on top lever key): FH 6) (handwritten on back of metal frame above middle tone chamber) Euphonicon/Invented by J. Steward Esq;and manufactured by/Beale & Steward/201 Regent Street./London

  • References

    Clinkscale Martha Novak. Makers of the Piano, 1820-1860: Volume 2. Oxford University Press. Oxford, UK, 1999, pg. 24.

    Libin Laurence. "Keyboard Instruments." Summer. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (1989), Vol. 47, No. 1, pg. 49, ill.

    Libin Laurence. Keynotes: Two Centuries of Piano Design. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1985.



  • See also
    What
    Where
    When
    In the Museum
    Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
180016233

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