Upright (Giraffe) Piano
This type of piano is known as a "giraffe piano," which has an assymetrical case that is shaped to the length of the strings of a piano from the longest bass strings to the shortest treble strings. It was but one type of case developed by piano makers in the early nineteenth century, during an innovative period of piano design. A wide variety of upright pianos were developed that included among others so-called pyramid pianos and lyre pianos.
Technical description: Case of mahogany veneer, the harp-like upper portion bordered with mother-of-pearl inlay surrounding a pleated silk panel covering the strings, the inlays mainly in the form of 4-point stars; keybed supported at both ends by carved gilt mermaids; the panel enclosing the front of the case below the keyboard having a recessed figured-veneer rectangle with a smaller inlaid oval panel centered above the pedals; compass FF-g4 (75 keys), mother-of-pearl naturals, dark-stained accidental blocks covered with ebony slips inlaid with mother-of-pearl; originally 6 pedals, of which 2 remain: left (once 3rd from left) raising dampers, right (once 3rd from right) of undetermined function; German hägende action with backcheck retained by spring; triple-strung throughout; no wound strings; pinblock veneered with fiddleback maple; unpierced tuning pins. (L. Libin 8 Nov 76)
Technical description: Case of mahogany veneer, the harp-like upper portion bordered with mother-of-pearl inlay surrounding a pleated silk panel covering the strings, the inlays mainly in the form of 4-point stars; keybed supported at both ends by carved gilt mermaids; the panel enclosing the front of the case below the keyboard having a recessed figured-veneer rectangle with a smaller inlaid oval panel centered above the pedals; compass FF-g4 (75 keys), mother-of-pearl naturals, dark-stained accidental blocks covered with ebony slips inlaid with mother-of-pearl; originally 6 pedals, of which 2 remain: left (once 3rd from left) raising dampers, right (once 3rd from right) of undetermined function; German hägende action with backcheck retained by spring; triple-strung throughout; no wound strings; pinblock veneered with fiddleback maple; unpierced tuning pins. (L. Libin 8 Nov 76)
Artwork Details
- Title: Upright (Giraffe) Piano
- Maker: Carl Lang
- Date: ca. 1830–40
- Geography: Nürnberg, Germany
- Culture: German
- Medium: Various materials
- Dimensions: Case length (perpendicular to keyboard) 61.0 cm, Width (parallel to keyboard) 121.0 cm, Total height 239.3 cm
- Classification: Chordophone-Zither-struck-piano
- Credit Line: The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889
- Object Number: 89.4.1203
- Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments
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Multiple artists/makers
1799
Johann Wilhelm Oberlender (the Elder)
mid-18th century
Érard
George Henry Blake
ca. 1840
Michael Saurle
1829
Boehm & Mendler, German
ca. 1870
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