grand piano

Classification: 3 Chordophones / 31 Simple chordophones or zithers / 314 Board zithers / 314.1 True board zithers / 314.1-4-8 True board zithers sounded by hammers or beaters, with keyboard

Piano maker: Jan Kerntopf i Syn

Date: ca.1898

Village / Town: Warsaw

Country: Congress Kingdom of Poland / present-day Poland

Owner: Museum of Industrial History, Opatówek, ul. Kościelna 1. Gifted in 2001 by the Warsaw Ballet School

Inventory number: MHP 63/I

Description: black lacquered. Cross-, single- double-, triple-strung; full metal frame with hitch pin block’s armour and a capo tasto bar at the one-third of the upper stringing. English double repetition action with overdampers

Inscriptions: on the keyboard cover inlaid in brass: J. Kerntopf & Fils / VARSOVIE / Médaille d’Or Paris 1889; on the soundboard, a transfer with images of exhibition medals and the company name; on the back of the front slat, keyboard cover, and keyboard's side blocks: 2197; pressed on the keyboard frame’s left side: JM; penciled on the hammers’ slat: Baletowa. J. Kerntopf & Fils / VARSOVIE / Médaille d’Or Paris 1889; pressed on the hitch pin block: 3362; on the soundboard a transfer with exhibition medals reads: DOSTAWCY KIJOWSKIEGO CESARSKIEGO TOWARZYSTWA MUZYCZNEGO / DOSTAWCY WARSZAWSKIEGO INSTYTUTU MUZYCZNEGO (KONSERWATORIUM) / J. KERNTOPF I SYN / FABRYKA FORTEPIANÓW I PIANIN / WARSZAWA KIJÓW / EGZYSTUJĄCA OD ROKU 1840

Measurements: height 385 (960), width 1510, depth 1900 mm

Materials: wood, metal, ivory

Keyboard compass, stops: A₂-c⁵ – 7¼ octaves, two pedals – una corda and dampers

Catalog card by: Benjamin Vogel

Bibliography: B. Vogel, Fortepian polski. Budownictwo fortepianów na ziemiach polskich od poł. XVIII w. do II wojny światowej, (Warszawa, 1995), p. 232-35; B. Vogel, Polskie fortepiany XIX-XX w. Kolekcja Muzeum Historii Przemysłu w Opatówku, (Opatówek, 1994)

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