Images(3)

Square piano

Dateca. 1792

Artist/Maker George Garcka

Artist/Maker John Bland

OriginEngland, London

MediumMahogany: case, legs, damper levers, hammer shanks, hammer-rail cap; Spruce: soundboard; Maple(?): nameboard veneer; Beech: bridge; Limewood: key levers; Plain light hardwoods: inscription inlay, hammer rail, hitch-pin plank veneer, molded key fronts; Oak: key-frame balance and front rails, spine; Softwoods: key-frame side rails, belly rail, bottom, stand aprons, sled to raise key frame; Ebony(?): sharps; Ivory: natural tops; Baleen: damper springs; Leather: jack heads, hammer covers; Iron: tuning pins, spring on damper system, pedal trapwork; Brass: lid hinges, caster cups, jack wires, hitch pins, nut pins, bridge pins

DimensionsNet dimensions exclude lid, stand and projecting moldings. All dimensions in mm except where noted. Length: 1,697 mm (net 1,677 mm); Width: 601 mm (net 593 mm); Height: 821 (casters missing) mm (net 219 mm) Note that these height measurements and the height of keys above floor do not compensate for the lost casters.

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Wetherup

Object number1996-810,A

DescriptionCASE DECORATION: The case is solid mahogany with light wood stringing. Lid hooks (now missing) had been at each end of the case and at the small lid flap. A thin removable dust board (now missing except for rim supports) once covered the inside of the case just below the lid from the nameboard back to the spine.
KEYWELL: The keywell of this instrument is veneered in horse chestnut; the oval-ended inscription inlay is probably holly with a dark string inlay around the perimeter. Outside the satinwood panel is black and white stringing and angled crossbanding of a stripped tropical(?) wood. There are no vents in the nameboard.
LID: The standard three-section lid is solid with boxwood stringing. The front lockboard is hinged to the long flap forming a music desk, the rack of which is missing, leaving only the screw holes. A swiveling lockboard prop is also missing. The lid edge is decorated only with a chamfer on the top edge.
STAND AND PEDALS: The stand is a "French frame" type with light wood stringing. The front apron board is recessed on the bottom edge for knee clearance. The upper horizontals have their line stringing on the arrises. The square tapered legs have lost their casters, leaving only the caster cups. The original bolt covers are lost. The music shelf has been lost and the notches in the legs are patched.
The pedals were originally attached to two front-to-back braces fixed to the apron of the stand and operated on a pull-down principle. Note that the evidence of pedal attachment on these braces suggests that the left pedal was noticeably further back than the right pedal. Another mystery is that no evidence yet indicates a pedal for the buff -- was the buff stop operated by hand?
Only the damper trapwork remains attached to the bottom of the piano.
COMPASS: FF–c4
OCTAVES: 5 oct. + 7 notes
STOPS: There were two pedals (now missing), the left for dampers and the right for lid swell. The buff stop and buff stop mechanism are now missing but may have been controlled by hand stop.

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Square piano of 5 1/2 octaves (compass FF-c'''') with unusual soundboard that reaches from the pinblock extending over the keylevers to the left end of the case. The entire soundboard is true vibrating area thanks to the existence of a second soundboard positioned 5 mm below the main one and to which the belly is glued. The action is the English Single ("Zumpe") action. Case is solid mahogany with white (boxwood?) stringing; original stand (1996-810,B) is a "French Frame" type with stringing. Lid is of the standard three-section type with boxwood stringing. The instrument was probably retailed by John Bland. For further description, including organological information, see object folder.
Inscribed"George Garcka London Fecit / PATENT" in ink on nameboard [small caps on "ATENT"]
Markings• Stamped on right end of soundboard: "J BLAND No 45/ HOLBORN LONDON"
• "1335" in ink on soundboard below Bland stamping; may be Bland's retail ledger transaction or stock number
• "George Garcka / Patent" in pencil on back of nameboard; probably instructions for calligrapher
ProvenanceDescended in family of Henry S. Wilson of Augusta County, VA; after Wilson's death in 1950, passed to his niece Elizabeth Calhoun Montgomery; Eugene Wetherup, Elizabeth’s son, gave piano to CWF in 1996

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This piano descended in the family of Henry S. Wilson of Augusta County, Virginia, who owned the piano at his death in 1850. He gave it, via will, to his niece, Elizabeth Calhoun Montgomery, and it stayed in the family until given to Colonial Williamsburg. The owner, Eugene Wetherup, is the son of Elizabeth Calhoun Montgomery Wetherup, but the connection of Elizabeth C.M. Wetherup to Elizabeth Calhoun Montgomery is not clear. The Montgomery family came from Deerfield Valley, Virginia, near Staunton.

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