Erard Square Piano

Type: Square Piano

Collection: Kolthoorn Collection

Manufacturer: Erard

Year: c.1850

Geography: Paris / France

Dimensions (cm): W=193

Current location: Not on display

General description: Erard action in a mahogany case with satinwood inlay. Ivory naturals with ebony sharps. Metal hitchpin plate with two bars. Original square tuning pins and complete stringing using old but likely not original strings. The first five strings are single strung, the ten strings after that are bichord, and the rest of the piano is trichord. The damping system uses underdampers. This piano is equipped with an agraffe, invented by Sebastien Erard in 1808/09, which holds the strings to the frame of the piano. This is done to precisely control the length of the part of the strings that vibrate.