Broadwood Square Piano

Broadwood Square Piano

This piano has an English action with a single escapement. Each key has two leather blocks and a weight. The upper block strikes the underside of the hammer, all of which are all attached to a single plank of wood. These hammer heads are topped with animal skin, and there are no guide pins between them (Broadwood abandoned the use of guide pins in 1796). Meanwhile, the lower leather block strikes the tail of the under-damper, causing it to lower; releasing the key dampens the string. All of the keys except for the ten rightmost ones have peacock dampers. The lowest 44 strings are strung using brass, and the rest are steel. As these strings have been replaced, the original string gauges are unknown.

1796

10/15/19 23:26

Cole, Michael. Broadwood Square Pianos. Cheltenham: Tatchley Books, 2005.
Hipkins, A. J. A Description and History of the Pianoforte and of the Older Keyboard Stringed Instruments. New York: Novello Ewer and Co, 1896.
Wainwright, David. Broadwood By Appointment: A History. London: Quiller Press, 1982.

This square piano came to America through the trader and businessman John Jacob Astor, who bulk ordered Broadwood pianos in the 1790s. In 1799, Astor sold this piano to the Livingston family in New York City, and in 1837 it was given to Mr. Louis Wiethan, who started his own business as a piano maker in Poughkeepsie. A Mr. L Wiethan then lent this piano to Vassar for a lecture on early English music in December 1898, although "Mr L. Wiethan" likely refers to Louis Wiethan Jr., as his father passed away in 1878.

Great Pulteney Street Golden Square, London

John Broadwood & Son

Length 163 cm; Width 57 cm; Height 83.5 cm

Five octaves and a fifth; FF-c4; 68 keys

Keyboard

Front of the nameboard reads "John Broadwood & Son London 1796 Patent/Great Pulteney Street Golden Square"; label on the back inner casing to the left with English and French instructions for maintenance; back of the nameboard has the original serial number on it, 3379; natural keys are each numbered the back in pencil; front of the wrestplank has small numberings, most likely measurements for the placement of the guiding pins at the front of the pinboard; hammers have been numbered in pencil

Conserved in a playable state; many original parts were replaced in a restoration.

The Broadwood Archive Services can offer more information on each particular piano based on serial number, including: the exact date when the piano was completed, the name of the buyer, the price, the dispatch address and method of delivery, and more specifications on the instrument itself. It is highly likely that most of these data points are available for Vassar's square piano, as it was constructed during a time period where Broadwood & Sons maintained detailed workshop records in order to keep up with increasing output and business. This option costs £60.00 Sterling.

John Broadwood began working for London harpsichord maker Burkat Shudi in 1761. His work was of such high quality that Burkat Shudi elected to pass his business to John Broadwood upon his death, rather than give it to his own son or nephew. Broadwood continued to make harpsichords for some time under the company name 'Shudi & Broadwood'. In 1783, he patented several elements of piano design, including brass under-dampers, the placing of the wrest pins at the back of the piano, and the pedal. He continued to work in the piano-making business with his two sons, to whom the business was passed upon his death.

GK, JW

Body is mahogany and satinwood; ivory naturals, ebony sharps; brass and steel strings; iron wrest pins in the back; cast iron hitch pin plate

Vassar Treasure Room

The tuning pins, hitch pin plate, felt strips along the bridge, strings, and cases hinges have all been replaced