Astor & Horwood Square Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This square piano was made by Astor & Horwood in London, England around 1815-1822. George Peter Astor had a successful, piano, flute, and music publishing business at 79 Cornhill in London. After his death in 1813, Astor’s wife continued the firm until 1815, when Horwood took it over, and the business became Astor & Horwood until 1824. The piano is serial number 5881 and has a compass of FF-f4, English double action, brass and iron strings, double-strung, no stops or pedals, and a wood frame in a mahogany case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1815 - 1822
• maker: Astor & Horwood
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: mahogany (overall material)
• Physical Description: brass (wires material)
• Physical Description: steel (wires material)
• Measurements: overall: 9 1/4 in x 67 1/8 in x 24 1/4 in; 23.495 cm x 170.4975 cm x 61.595 cm
• Place Made: United Kingdom: England, London
• ID Number: MI.094645
• catalog number: 94645
• accession number: 12481
• serial number: 5881
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.