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Square piano
George Astor & Co. (English, 1752–1813)
about 1805–10
Object Place: London, England
Medium/Technique
Mahogany
Dimensions
Length 163.2 cm, width 58 cm, case height 21 cm, height with stand 81.2 cm (Length 64 1/14 in., width 22 13/16 in., case height 8 1/4 in., height with stand 31 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Clement R.D. Meier in memory of his wife Dorothy Niedringhaus Meier
Accession Number63.3051
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
InscriptionsOn nameboard: New Patent / Astor & Compy / No, 79 Cornhill, London; on block to left of keywell: 2752
ProvenanceBefore 1963, sold by an old man in Portland, Maine, to Mrs. Thomas K. Niedringhaus (Meier's mother-in-law). Apparently, the man's father loaned a sum of money to a Frenchman in Montreal, taking the piano as collateral. The borrower was unable to repay the loan, forfeiting the piano. Niedringhaus loaned it to the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York, from June 20, 1934 to August 11, 1942. By 1963, Clement R. D. Meier, Cooperstown, New York; 1963, gift of Meier to the MFA. (Accession Date: November 27, 1985)