Stein Upright Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This upright piano was made by André Stein in Vienna, Austria around 1810. This is a “giraffe” piano, the upright grand favored in Germany and Austria. It is a grand piano standing on its head, with the right side of the case following the usual shape of a grand. The scroll at the top reminded people of a giraffe, and the word became a technical term for this type of piano. This piano has a compass of FF-f4, hanging Viennese action, leather hammers, brass strings double-strung FF-D, iron strings triple-strung G#-f4, 6 pedals: bassoon, dampers, moderator (3rd and 4th pedals), Janissary, keyboard shift, wood frame, and a mahogany veneer case with silk front panels.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1809 - 1811
• maker: Stein, Andre
• Object Name: piano
• Object Name: giraffe upright piano
• Physical Description: iron (strings material)
• Physical Description: leather (hammers material)
• Physical Description: wood (frame material)
• Physical Description: mahogany veneer, silked (case material)
• Measurements: overall: piano: 214.7 cm x 114.5 cm x 59.6 cm; 84 17/32 in x 45 3/32 in x 23 15/32 in
• Measurements: overall: largest part: 6 1/2 in x 42 in x 5 in; 16.51 cm x 106.68 cm x 12.7 cm
• Measurements: overall: smallest part: 1/16 in x 1/2 in; .15875 cm x 1.27 cm
• Place Made: Austria: Vienna state, Vienna
• ID Number: MI.299844
• catalog number: 299844
• accession number: 61285
• catalog number: 299844.01
• 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.