upright 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: Julian Małecki

Date: 1913

Village / Town: Warsaw

Country: Congress Kingdom of Poland / present-day Poland

Owner: Museum of Industrial History, Opatówek, ul. Kościelna 1. Bought in 1990 in Desa magazine in Warsaw

Inventory number: MHP 26/I

Description: black polished, embellished with low reliefs, ferrules and Art Nouveau chandeliers. Cross-, single-, double-, triple-strung. Full metal frame with hitch pin block’s armour. English repetition action with underdampers

Inscriptions: Małecki inlaid in brass on the keyboard cover; on the soundboard a transfer with images of exhibition medals and the inscription: Małecki / Fabryka Fortepianów / i / Pianin / w Warszawie; 4037 pressed on the hitch pin block along with a cast of the factory logo – M intertwined with a harp; M [?] Lewandowski / 29/I 1913 r. written in red pencil on the left side; 102991 pressed on the key lever; the action’s frame features a stamp reading: Louis Renner Stuttgart / Pianomechanikfabrik / N^o 83950 / and illegible signatures

Measurements: height 1380, width 1515 depth 355 (665) mm

Materials: wood, metal, ivory

Keyboard compass, stops: A₂-a⁴ – 7 octaves, two pedals – piano and dampers, moderator with a hand lever on the left side of the keyboard

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. 235; B. Vogel, Polskie fortepiany XIX-XX w. Kolekcja Muzeum Historii Przemysłu  w Opatówku, (Opatówek,1994)

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