Erard Grand Piano
date: label: date made
content: 1854
name: label: associated person
content: Victoria Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India
label: associated person
content: Albert Prince Consort of Great Britain and Ireland
label: maker
content: Erard
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: This piano was made by Erard in London, England in 1854. Sébastien Erard and his brother Jean-Baptiste entered a partnership in 1788 and became the leading French piano company in the 19th century. During the French Revolution, Sébastien Erard went to London and opened a branch of the company. Queen Victoria bought this instrument from Erard’s London establishment in 1854 as a gift for Prince Albert. It was housed in Balmoral Castle, Scotland. The piano is serial number 3964 and has a compass of AAA-a5, Erard repetition action of 1840, felt over leather on wood core hammers, copper-wound and plain steel strings, 1, 2, or 3 strings for each note, 2 pedals: una corda and damper lifter, a partial iron frame with tension bars and gap spacers, straight-strung, and a rosewood veneer case.
label: Description
content: The Parisian firm of Erard dominated innovative piano technology during the first half of the 19th century and their instruments were favored by virtuosos like Liszt and Thalberg. Queen Victoria selected this piano, produced in Erard's London factory, by for Prince Albert's use at Balmoral Castle. The royal family's heraldic device is stamped on the iron framing.
label: Description
content: It has a range of seven octaves, iron framing, and a case eight feet long. Erard's action eventually developed into the modern grand piano action.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view (group of broken parts)
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Pianos
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Herbert R. Axelrod and the Friends of Music at the Smithsonian
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0372.01
label: serial number
content: 3964
label: accession number
content: 1991.0372
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0372.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: piano
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (strings material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather, felt (hammers material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (case: material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (frame: material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 95 cm x 136 cm x 242 cm; 37 3/8 in x 53 9/16 in x 95 1/4 in