Square piano
Maker
Tomas Miñaca
Date1830 ca.
Place MadeMadrid, Spain, Europe
Serial No.28
SignedWritten in the cartouche on the nameboard: Por / Tomas Miñaca / Discipulo de Hosseschrudres / Madrid / Calle de la Puebla vieja no 15. ("Por" and "Madrid" are written in silver ink, now very dark with tarnish; the rest are written in gold ink.)
MarkingsIn chalk on underside of bottom: N 46
Late-nineteenth/early-twentieth-century paper label on soundboard near bass end of the bridge, with initials written by hand in ink: A. E. S.
Stamped on the wrest plank, but might be number within a batch: 28
Descriptionsquare piano in the English style. Compass FF to f4 (73 notes). Naturals covered in bone; sharps pear stained black. Standard English square-piano double action, with crank dampers. Hammer-head coverings consisting of layers of yellow cloth (with outer layer of leather in the treble) are old, possibly original. Two pedals (missing), one to raise the dampers; the second evidently lowered a batten (now missing; axle pins at its ends were held in the bass by a brass eye in the nut and in the treble by a block on the back wall) toward the strings up to about g1, most likely a bassoon (or possibly a harp, i.e., partially damping the strings). Bichord stringing. Bridge divided between A# and B.
Case (core of pine) exterior veneered in mahogany with holly (natural light and charred or stained black) banding and stringing around the bottom edge; nameboard veneered in ash, with dark and light holly banding and stringing at the top. Front corners and ends of nameboard are rounded. There were two drawers (now missing) under the bottom, to the right and left of the player. Nameboard cartouche is black paint (or ink) ground with decoration and inscription in gold and silver paints or inks applied with a pen; the decoration includes the head of an angel(?) at the top and a trumpet-playing angel at each side.
DimensionsLength: 1759 mm
Width: 635 ñ3 mm
Height: 233 to 242 mm (height of walls excluding blocks for legs and drawers)
3-octave measure: 482.5 mm
Longer c2 string length: 302 mm
Credit LineGift of Susan and George Lucktenberg Tattershall, 2001
Object number09979
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