Hisky Square Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This square piano was made by Joseph Hisky in Baltimore, Maryland around 1820-1830. Hisky immigrated to America from Vienna in the early part of the 19th century . While most of Hisky’s output were square pianos, he also sold grands, uprights, “harmonic pianos and keyed harps” from America and abroad. This piano is serial number 1745 and has a compass of FF-f4, Viennese action, leather hammers, double-string with tuning pins on the right, 2 (or 3) pedals: dampers, Janissary (drum and bells), a wood frame, and a mahogany case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1820 - 1830
• maker: Hisky, Joseph
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: mahogany (case material)
• Physical Description: steel (wires material)
• Physical Description: brass (wires material)
• Measurements: case: 11 1/4 in x 67 5/8 in x 29 1/4 in; 28.575 cm x 171.7675 cm x 74.295 cm
• place made: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
• ID Number: MI.096619
• catalog number: 96619
• accession number: 31877
• Credit Line: George Woltz
• 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.