Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- This upright piano was made by John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1801. Hawkins patented an ingenious small upright piano with a folding keyboard, of which the Smithsonian’s is an example. Other piano experiments were an upright instrument, the Claviol, which bowed the strings, a system of attaching the strings to a nut on a threaded rod, and the use of springs as strings in the bass. Only three of his instruments are known to survive. This piano is serial number 6 and has a compass of FF-f3, Hawkins upright action, felt hammers (originally leather), double-strings, 2 pedals: moderator and swell (which opens shutters in the case below the keyboard), wood frame with iron bars behind the soundboard, straight-strung, and a mahogany veneer case with metal carrying handles.
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- Hawkins, John Isaac
- date made
- 1801
- Credit Line
- Gift of Hugo Worch
- Physical Description
- felt (originally leather) (hammers material)
- wood with iron bars (frame material)
- mahogany veneer (case material)
- Measurements
- overall: 109.85 cm x 90.17 cm x 38.6 cm; 43 1/4 in x 35 1/2 in x 15 3/16 in
- Object Name
- piano
