Detail View: The AMICA Library: Grand Pianoforte
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AMICA ID:
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MMA_.59.76
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AMICA Library Year:
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2000
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Object Type:
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Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
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Creator Name:
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Erard & Co.
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Creator Role:
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Maker
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Made by Erard & Co.
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Creator Name:
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Blake, George Henry
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Creator Role:
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Designer
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Case designed and executed by George Henry Blake
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Title:
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Grand Pianoforte
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Title Type:
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Object name
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View:
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Detail
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Creation Date:
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ca. 1840
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Creation Start Date:
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1830
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Creation End Date:
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1850
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Materials and Techniques:
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Various materials
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Classification Term:
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Chordophone/struck piano
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Dimensions:
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L. of case perpendicular to keyboard 97 1/4 in. (247 cm); W. parallel to keyboard 58 7/8 in. (149.5 cm); D. of case without lid 12 5/8 in. (32 cm); Total H. 37 1/2 in. (95.3 cm); 3-octave span 19 5/8 in. (49.7 cm); L. of longest string 70 3/8 in. (178.7 cm); L. of shortest string 1 7/8 in. (4.9 cm); L. of c2 11 1/4 in. (28.7 cm)
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Owner Location:
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New York, New York, USA
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ID Number:
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59.76
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Credit Line:
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Gift of Mrs. Henry McSweeney, 1959
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Rights:
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Context:
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This grand piano's marquetried satinwood case, executed by George H. Blake, is unsurpassed in elegance and iconographic complexity. A nobleman's showpiece, the piano was commissioned by Thomas Lord Foley from the London branch of a distinguished French firm. Erard's eighty-note, double-escapement action was the most advanced of its time. The basis for modern grand actions, it accommodated the virtuosic pianism of Chopin and Liszt. The hammers are covered with felt, first used in place of leather coverings in 1826. Strings of the top twenty-six notes pass through a perforated brass bar that secures them against the hammers' strong blows. Longitudinal steel bars reinforce the open-bottomed case. The painted and gilded stand is a separate construction in the Louis XV style. |
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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MMA_.mi59.76.AV2.tif
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