Erard Grand Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History
Erard Grand Piano: date made: 1854. associated person: Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India. associated person: Albert Prince Consort of Great Britain and Ireland.
The object in the museum catalogue
This piano was made by Erard in London, England in 1854. Sébastien Erard and his brother Jean-Baptiste entered a partnership in 1788 and became the leading French piano company in the 19th century. During the French Revolution, Sébastien Erard went to London and opened a branch of the company. Queen Victoria bought this instrument from Erard’s London establishment in 1854 as a gift for Prince Albert. It was housed in Balmoral Castle, Scotland. The piano is serial number 3964 and has a compass of AAA-a5, Erard repetition action of 1840, felt over leather on wood core hammers, copper-wound and plain steel strings, 1, 2, or 3 strings for each note, 2 pedals: una corda and damper lifter, a partial iron frame with tension bars and gap spacers, straight-strung, and a rosewood veneer case.
The Parisian firm of Erard dominated innovative piano technology during the first half of the 19th century and their instruments were favored by virtuosos like Liszt and Thalberg. Queen Victoria selected this piano, produced in Erard's London factory, by for Prince Albert's use at Balmoral Castle. The royal family's heraldic device is stamped on the iron framing.
It has a range of seven octaves, iron framing, and a case eight feet long. Erard's action eventually developed into the modern grand piano action.
Materials, dates and provenance
- date made: 1854
- associated person: Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India
- associated person: Albert Prince Consort of Great Britain and Ireland
- maker: Erard
- Object Name: piano
- Physical Description: steel (strings material)
- Physical Description: leather, felt (hammers material)
- Physical Description: wood (case: material)
- Physical Description: iron (frame: material)
- Measurements: overall: 95 cm x 136 cm x 242 cm; 37 3/8 in x 53 9/16 in x 95 1/4 in
- place made: United Kingdom: England, London
- ID Number: 1991.0372.01
- serial number: 3964
- accession number: 1991.0372
- catalog number: 1991.0372.01
- Credit Line: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Herbert R. Axelrod and the Friends of Music at the Smithsonian
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
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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.
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