Piano bench owned and used by Thelonious Monk: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A piano bench owned and used by Thelonious Monk. The bench is brown with a cushioned, white vinyl seat. The seat has a large tear in the middle and the underlying foam is visible. The bench is stained brown and has ogee curved edges where the cushion meets the bench. The legs of the bench are unadorned.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1962
• Manufactured by: Baldwin Piano Company, American, founded 1862
• Used by: Thelonious Monk, American, 1917 - 1982
• Type: benches
• Type: grand pianos
• Medium: wood, metal, foam, vinyl
• Dimensions: H x W x D: 19 5/16 × 33 7/16 × 15 9/16 in. (49 × 85 × 39.5 cm)
• Place made: Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Object number: 2018.89.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of T.S. and Gale Monk in memory of Thelonious Monk
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.