Pleyel, Wolff & Cie Upright Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This upright piano was made by Pleyel, Wolff & Cie in Paris, France around 1857-1858. Ignaz Pleyel was an Austrian pianist and composer and pupil of Franz Josef Haydn. In the early 19th century, he went to Paris, and began manufacturing pianos there in 1807 at the age of 50. His son Camille joined him in 1821. At Camille’s death, the company went to Auguste Wolff, his son-in-law, and had the name Pleyel, Wolff et Cie. This piano is serial number 25468, and has a compass of AAA-a5, an upright double escapement action, felt (?) hammers, AAA-EE is single-strung, FF-f is double-strung, f3-a5 is triple-strung, 2 pedals: keyboard shift and dampers, a wood frame with two iron tension bars, straight-strung and oblique, and an ornate faux tortoise-shell case with brass inlays (Boulle style) and two candle sconces.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1857 - 1858
• maker: Pleyel, Wolff & Co.
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: felt (?) (hammers material)
• Physical Description: wood, iron (frame material)
• Physical Description: faux tortoise-shell, brass (case material)
• Measurements: overall: 125 cm x 132.4 cm x 61.5 cm; 49 3/16 in x 52 1/8 in x 24 3/16 in
• Measurements: overall: 49 1/4 in x 53 1/2 in x 26 in; 125.095 cm x 135.89 cm x 66.04 cm
• Place Made: France: Île-de-France, Paris
• ID Number: MI.291775
• catalog number: 291775
• accession number: 60050
• 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.