Kuhn & Ridgeway Upright Harp Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This upright piano made in the 1850s, was sold by Kuhn & Ridgeway in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a “harp-piano,” a type of upright grand piano in which the strings and framework protrude above the case This piano has a compass of CC-c5, standard upright, felt hammers, single- and double-strings, 2 pedals: keyboard shift and dampers, iron string-plate frame to level keys, straight-strung, and a gilded and decorated rosewood veneer case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1857
• dealer: 1850, 1875
• dealer: Kuhn & Ridgeway
• maker: Kuhn & Ridgeway
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: felt (hammers: material)
• Physical Description: iron string-plate to level of keys, lower part may be wood (frame: material)
• Physical Description: rosewood veneer (case: material)
• Measurements: overall: 89 1/4 in x 56 1/4 in x 30 1/2 in; 226.695 cm x 142.875 cm x 77.47 cm
• place made: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
• ID Number: MI.326603
• accession number: 71651
• catalog number: 326603
• 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.