Hale Upright Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This upright piano was made by in the United States by an unknown maker in the late 19th century. The piano has sometimes been doubtfully attributed to Jospeh P. Hale. This piano was highly decorated by Cottier of New York for Mrs. Gouverneur Morris. The inscription on the nameboard reads “AS MAY WITH SWEETNESS THROUGH MINE EAR DISSOLVE ME INTO ECSTASIES.” This piano is serial number 908 and has a compass of AAA - c5, standard upright action, felt hammers, single-. double-, and triple-strings, 2 pedals: a keyboard shift and dampers, an iron frame. pinblock is uncovered, and a highly decorated case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1875 - 1899
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: iron (frame material)
• Physical Description: felt (hammers material)
• Measurements: overall: 56 in x 61 in x 29 in; 142.24 cm x 154.94 cm x 73.66 cm
• ID Number: MI.316176
• catalog number: 316176
• accession number: 66347
• Credit Line: Gift of Mrs. Gouverneur Morris
• 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.