Weser Bros. Transposing Upright Piano: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This transposing upright piano was made by Weser Brothers in New York, New York in 1940. According to the inscription on the case, it was made “expressly for Irving Berlin.” The transposing mechanism moves the action and keyboard so that the player can play in any key. Irving Berlin was a self-taught pianist who preferred to play on the black keys. This piano is serial number 117728 and has a compass of AAA-c5, tape-check upright action, felt hammers, single-, double-, and triple-strings, 3 pedals: :soft,” transposing mechanism, and dampers, 1 hand lever under the keybed: keyboard and action shift, one-piece cast-iron frame, cross-strung, and a black lacquer case.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1940
• user: Berlin, Irving
• maker: Weser Bros.
• Object Name: piano
• Physical Description: felt (hammers: material)
• Physical Description: iron (frame material)
• Physical Description: wood (case: material)
• Physical Description: cast (frame production method/technique)
• Measurements: overall: 45 in x 60 in x 25 in; 114.3 cm x 152.4 cm x 63.5 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York
• Subject: Musical Theater
• ID Number: MI.73.30
• accession number: 305340
• catalog number: 73.30
• serial number: 117,728
• Credit Line: Gift of Irving Berlin
• 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.