Grand piano
Maker
William Stodart
Date1820-1821 ca.
Place MadeLondon, England, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedIn ornate script: William Stodart / Maker to their Majesties & Royal Family / Golden / Square London (script in gold paint, surrounded by decorative brass inlay)MarkingsSee Koster’s notes:
inked on CC lever: No 4757 Javine 69
inked on CC♯: Stuart 398
A. REID (punched on the top of the action frame, left side)DescriptionCompass: CC to c4Two pedals: una corda, dampers
Date: 1820-1821- between these 2 years, Broadwood and others used the above wording
Materials: mahogany case; cross banded with rosewood and inlaid with brass
Decoration: name board (plate) is inlaid with brass ornamentation (similar to Kearsing square)
compass: CC to c4 (6 octaves); 2 pedals: una corda, dampers
Construction:
Case veneered in mahogany, crossbanded with rosewood
Closed bottom, with the case sides attached to the sides of the bottom
Wrestplank, inside of case, and jack rail veneered in satinwood
Five gap spacers, between: F#/G, f#/g, d#1/e1, c#2/d2, c3/c#3
Sound board grain at 77 degree angle from gap
Rectangular tuning pins of unpierced steel (several pierced pins are replacements)
Two bridges: bass bridge CC-G#, treble bridge G-c4, bent to its curve. Both are double pinned throughout and have been coated with graphite at some time. They have a square profile with notches, and all four ends are cut square and do not meet the edge of the soundboard. The treble end of the long bridge is 18mm high and 15mm thick.
Nut divided at G#/A; both sections single pinned
Four fluted legs with castors. Legs have brass rims at the top, with heavy turnings on the top and bottom.
The sliding music desk has extendable candle shelves.
A notable feature of this piano is its decorative brass inlay. The keywell, outside case, and lid have brass stringing. The nameplate is veneered in rosewood and is richly decorated with leaf-like patterns of inlaid brass. A mahogany molding containing a cast brass decorative molding adorns the bottom perimeter of the piano, including the spine. There are also three cast brass masks on the right side of the case which serve as lock handles.
Action:
English grand action
Jacks (mahogany) pivot on a pin in a mortise towards the back of the key. The bottom of the jacks are cut open and the jacks rest on the center pins. (They are not pinned in place.)
Hammers pinned together with six long center pins. The pins rest in a groove on the hammer flanges and are clamped in place by six brass plates.
Round hammer shanks are of cedar, 3.8mm thick
Hammer moldings and hammer butts are of mahogany. The hammer butts are numerically punched and have screws on top. Turning the screw down tightens the hammer butt against the center pin. The center pin holed are bushed with leather.
The length and width of the hammers are slightly graduated from bass to treble: CC hammer molding 52mm long, 8.5mm wide, 5mm thick; c4 hammer molding 44mm long, 8.5mm wide. The thickness of the center of the extreme treble hammer molding is only 1.5mm, and three of these have been reinforced. The bass hammer moldings are tapered at the top, the thin treble hammer moldings are slightly bulbous shaped.
Hammers CC-g2 have three layers of sheepskin covered with two layers of chamois (chamois not original).
Hammers g#2-c4 have only two layers of sheepskin covered with one replacement layer of chamois.
Backchecks consist of a layer of hard leather with two or three layers of thick suede.
Letoff is the only adjustment.
Dampers:
Compass CC-e3
Damper levers are of pearwood(?) with mahogany damper blocks glued to the top left side. The levers are guided by upper and lower box guides.
Dampers glued to underside of damper block, damper block concave
Dampers consist of one layer of sheepskin, one layer of thin leather, and a thick layer of sheep wool.
Twenty dampers have been replaced
Keyboard:
Naturals covered with ivory, one score line (only nine ivories are original), boxwood straight-line molding fronts
Stained sharps
Keys guided by front rail pins
Some natural key levers weighted at back
Some sharp key levers weighted at front
Stringing:
CC-DD double strung, DD#-c4 triple strung
Gauges:
The original strings were removed and measured (measurements taken by Darcy Kuronen, Research Assistant, Shrine to Music Museum, 1986)
CC-G# yellow brass
A-c4 iron
Gauge measurements (first string, second string, third string):
CC: 1.14mm, 1.14mm
CC#: 1.14mm, 1.14mm
DD: 1.14mm, 1.14mm
DD#: 1.14mm, .94mm
EE: 1.09mm, 1.09mm
FF: 1.09mm, .97mm
FF#: .97mm, .97mm
GG: .97mm, .97mm
GG#: .97mm, .97mm
AA: .97mm, .76mm
AA#: .97mm, .97mm
BB: .89mm, .76mm
C: .81mm, .81mm
C#: .81mm, .81mm
D: .84mm, .86mm
D#: .81mm, .97mm
E: .79mm, .79mm, .79mm
F: .79mm, .79mm, .79mm
F#: .86mm, .86mm, .81mm
G: .84mm, .74mm, .71mm
G#: .86mm, .86mm, .71mm
A: .71mm, .71mm, .76mm
A#: .71mm, .71mm, .71mm
B: .71mm, .71mm, .71mm
c: .71mm, .71mm, .71mm
c#: .71mm, .71mm, .71mm
d: .71mm, .71mm, .76mm
d#: .71mm, .71mm, .71mm
e: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
f: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
f#: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
g: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
g#: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
a: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
a#: .69mm, .69mm, .69mm
b: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
c1: .66mm, .66mm, .74mm
c#1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
d1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
d#1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
e1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
f1: .66mm, .66mm, .69mm
f#1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
g1: .61mm, .61mm, .66mm
g#1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
a1: .61mm, .64mm, .74mm
a#1: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
b1: .61mm, .61mm, .66m
c2: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
c#2: .66mm, .66mm, .66mm
d2: .66mm, .66mm, .74mm
d#2: .66mm, .61mm, .66mm
e2: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
f2: .61mm, .61mm, .66mm
f#2: .61mm, .61mm, .74mm
g2: .64mm, .64mm, .69mm
g#2: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
a2: .71mm, .71mm, .61mm
a#2: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
b2: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
c3: .74mm, .74mm, .69mm
c#3: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
d3: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
d#3: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
e3: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
f3: .61mm, .69mm, .61mm
f#3: .56mm, .56mm, .56mm
g3: .61mm, .61mm, .76mm
g#3: .56mm, .56mm, .56mm
a3: .61mm, .61mm, .61mm
a#3: .56mm, .56mm, .56mm
b3: .56mm, .56mm, .56mm
c4: .56mm, .56mm, .56mm
DimensionsLength: 7’ 9 ¾”
Width at keyboard: 3’ 8 ¾”
Height: 2’ 11 7/8”
(Kelly measurements:)
Length: 2359mm
Width: 1127mm
Overall height: 895mm
Height of case: 298mm
Spine thickness: 23.5mm
Bentside thickness: 26mm
Tail thickness: 22.5mm
Tail length: 422mm
Tail angle with spine: 65 degrees
Three octave measure: 485mm
Length of heads: 45mm
Width of heads: 23mm
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), p. 19, 45.
Rodger S. Kelly, A Catalog of European Pianos in the Shrine to Music Museum, MM Thesis, University of South Dakota, 1991, p. 35-43.
Darcy Kuronen, "Keyboard Instruments at The Shrine to Music Museum," Early Keyboard Studies Newsletter, Vol. VI, No. 1 (October 1991), p. 11.
Malcolm Rose and David Law. A Handbook of Historical Stringing Practice for Keyboard Instruments 1671-1856 (Lewes, England: Malcolm Rose and David Law, 1991), pp. 37 and 164.
Martha Novak Clinkscale, Makers of the Piano 1700-1820 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 288.
Credit LineBoard of Trustees, 1983
Object number03332
On View
Not on view
