Grand piano
Maker
Chickering & Sons
Date1864
Place MadeBoston, Massachusetts, United States, North America
ModelPossibly Scale 19
Serial No.26950
SignedIn gold on fallboard: Chickering. / BOSTON.On soundboard, near front: Chickering & Sons. / N° 26950 / BOSTON.MarkingsStamped or written on various parts: 601
Stamped on hammer flange AA: C & SONS
On small label on spine interior: No. 601 / Schweitzer[?]
Obscure penciled inscriptions on key levers b and d’DescriptionThis piano shipped on November 15, 1864 to M. Mertin(?) of Syracuse, New York. It is described in the Chickering ledgers as being rosewood, of 7-1/4 octave compass (88 notes), semi-grand, double molding, and carved legs. (Information provided by Greg Bennett of the Chickering Foundation, 2/2023)
Compass: AAA-c5
Two pedals: una corda and dampers
Edwin Brown patented action
Straight stringing
One-piece cast-iron frame
Agraffes throughout the compass
Rosewood veneered case with carved legs and lyreDimensionsMeasurements excluding moldings and carvings:
Length: 2290 mm
Width: 1401 mm
ProvenanceThis piano shipped on November 15, 1864 to M. Mertin(?) of Syracuse, New York. Previously owned by Sylvia Frantz Adler.Published References"1864 Grand Piano a Gift from San Francisco." _The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter_ XX, no. 4 (August 1993): 4.
Koster, John. "Square Piano by Hallet, Davis & Co., Boston, About 1858." _The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter_ XXII, no. 3 (April 1995): 4-5.
Sheets, Arian. "Creating a Modern American Piano: Antecedents, Launch, and Reinvention of Mason & Hamlin's Piano Line Through 1905." M.M. thesis, University of South Dakota, 2026: 14, 19, 21, 26.
Credit LineGift of Terry Adler, in memory of Sylvia Frantz Adler, 1993
Object number05413
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