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 1830-1835. Hisky, a Viennese piano maker, became in his mid-thirties one of the earliest piano manufacturers in Baltimore. His business flourished, and this may have been because he (apparently) did not deviate much over the years from the basic Viennese action with a 6 octave compass, plus the use of noted Baltimore artists to decorate his cases. The serial number alleged for this piano is doubtful. This piano is serial number 53 and has a compass of FF-f4, Viennese action, double-strings throughout, tuning pins on the right, 3 pedals: dampers, swell (?), bass drum, wood frame, and a rosewood case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1830-1835
• maker: Hisky, Joseph
• Object Name: piano
• place made: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
• ID Number: MI.315706
• catalog number: 315706
• accession number: 58488
• Credit Line: Gift of Hugo Worch
• 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.