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Grand Piano

Date1790

Maker Culliford & Company

MediumMahogany: exterior veneer, stand, pedals; Oak: case substrate, pin block; Sycamore: inner rim veneer, jack-rail veneer, bridge, nut, pin block veneer; Spruce: soundboard; Limewood: key levers; Softwood: nameboard substrate; Figured light hardwood: keywell veneer; Ebony: sharps; Ivory: naturals; Brass: lid hooks, lid hook rings, lid hinges, damper overrail hook, bridge pins, nut pins, hitch pins, lock escutcheon; Iron: tuning pins, pedal rods, pedal trapwork, trestle bolts and other screws, gap spacer arcs

DimensionsNet dimensions exclude lid, stand and projecting moldings. All dimensions in mm except where noted. Length: 2,321 mm (net 2,282 mm); Width: 978 mm (net 947 mm); Height: 915 mm (net 287 mm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2012-80

DescriptionCASE DECORATION: The case is veneered with mahogany panels, white-black-white stringing, and horizontal-grain banding at the perimeter (possibly replacing earlier crossbanding; note the color differences with the main mahogany panels). The spine is veneered.
KEYWELL: The nameboard has figured satinwood with black and white stringing and crossbanding. The presumed enameled inscription cartouche is missing but most of the brass bezel survives. There are holes for two nameboard screws, and a lock has been fitted to the center of the nameboard to prevent removing it. The lock was likely added during a ca. 1890s rebuilding, given its unusual location and the workmanship of the hardware.
LID: The thumb-molded lid is in three sections and is veneered in a scheme similar to the case sides.
STAND AND PEDALS: The mahogany trestle stand has straight, molded, square-section legs. The original casters are missing; the present reproduction casters were added in 2012. Both pedals survive, although one is a replacement.
COMPASS: FF–f3
OCTAVES: 5 oct.
STOPS: This has two pedals, for keyboard shift and for dampers. A hand stop in the right end block limits keyboard shift for una corda or due corde

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1790 grand piano by Thomas Cuillford & Co. and sold under the name of dealers Longman & Broderip.
Inscribed"Culliford & Co / Makers Jan. 7 / 1790" in ink on back of nameboard
Markings• “[illegible]” in ink on back of nameboard
• "166" stamped on top of pin block yoke

ProvenanceOwned by Russell Mackinnen prior to 1968, at which time piano was at Pro Musica Instrument Co. in Annapolis, MD; eventually purchased by John Cook of Hollywood, MD, who sold it to CWF in 2012

Exhibition(s)