Square pianoforte.

Wood, Small and Co

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Instrument

Square pianoforte/Pianofortes/Keyboard/Musical Instrument ; Square pianoforte

Instrument Family

Keyboard

Maker

Wood, Small and Co

Place Made

Edinburgh ; Europe ; Scotland ; United Kingdom

Date Made

Circa 1822

Description

Technical description: Square pianoforte. Compass 68 notes, F₁ - C₇. Height of instrument with lid closed 836. Distance from the floor to the top of the natural touchplates 702. Baseboard of pine. Broadwood type square piano action with hopper dampers and mahogany damper-raising pedal. Spruce soundboard with sycamore bridge. Lime keylevers. Dampers from F₁ - B₅. Double strung throughout, split bridge. Divided pins, F₁ - C₆ wrestpins are at the back of the case, with the remainder behind the bridge. Soundboard overhangs the keyboard for the highest twelve notes, keyframe all of one piece. Notes F₁ - G♯₁ have close-wound covered strings, A₁ - A₂ brass strings, B♭₂ - C₇ iron strings. Red cloth wound through the strings behind the bridge to reduce unwanted resonances, same red cloth glued on the hitchpin/wrestpin rail on the soundboard. Prop-stick on the right-hand side. Music desk attached to the inside of lid on the keywell flap. Backpinned from F₁ - D₃. Ivory naturals, ebony accidentals, sycamore keyfronts, natural headlength 44, accidental headlength 80. Three-octave span 488. String lengths and striking points; F₁ 1459 (131), C₂ 1319 (139), F₂ 1180 (127), C₃ 1085 (98), F₃ 862 (80), C₄ 599 (53), F₄ 453 (41), C₅ 298 (32), F₅ 224 (24), C₆ 144 (12), F₆ 112 (11), C₇ 75 (7). Serial number: 2523 / 3174 / 738. Overall size: 1690. Body length: 1690. Body width: 629. Body depth: 243. Written in ink on sycamore nameplate "Wood, Small, & Compy, / Musical Instrument makers. / To His Majesty / Edinburgh, & 27 Little Britain, London"; at the treble end of the wrestplank "No 2523"; at the bass end of the wrestplank "3174". Keys numbered behind the accidental balance pins, note names by the tuning pins. Scratched on soundboard above the top of the bridge "Will"; on the soundboard "WM"; on key 58 "AK / 2523"; on key 68 "M Rogers 738". Illustration references: Vol. 1 p.28.

Notes

D.P. Martin, 1996-1997.

Measurements

Instrument: 63.5cm wide, 170.18cm long, 33.02cm deep. Legs: 63.5 long, 7.62cm diameter ; 1690.

Provenance

Formerly owned by Brigadier T. McLeod of Tullis House, St Andrews. ; Gift of Dundee Museums and Art Galleries, 1986.

Collection

MIMEd

Accession Number

2699