Advanced Search

Upright piano

Date: 1869 ca.
Place Made:New York, New York, United States, North America
Serial No: 5341
SignedOn fallboard: Decker Brothers / New York
DescriptionThis is the earliest piano in the NMM's collection with a full 88-note compass and American upright action. 1860s American uprights are very rare - such pianos were not produced on a mass scale until the mid-to-late 1870s onward.

Compass: AAA-c5
Two pedals: soft (half-blow), dampers.
Sticker action. Stickers hinged to whippens and key-rockers. Let-off button and screw. No bridle tapes.

ProvenanceBelonged to Julia Scheie Bryngelson, grandmother of Vicky Bryngelson, who donated the piano to Arne B. Larson. The grandmother was born in 1902 and her father gave it to her when she was about 14 or 15, so she received it ca. 1916. Donated to Arne Larson in July 1974, “in loving memory of Julia Scheie Bryngelson, given by her family,” by Vicky Bryngelson, Marshalltown, Iowa (
Credit Line: Arne B. Larson Collection, 1979
Not on view
Object number: 02558