Upright Piano by Weber, A
Maker:
Weber, A
Number of manuals:
One
Year:
1876
Museum:
National Museum of American History
Date Range
1850-1900
Current Location:
North America
Material:
Painter:
Pedals:
Two
Catalogue Number:
Origin:
North America
Type:
Upright Piano
Albert Weber became Steinway’s principal competitor in the 1870s, just as the Chickering company began to falter. Weber made few technical innovations. He simply made extremely fine pianos like this 1876 upright and sold them at fair prices. Beautifully decorated by Herter Brothers, furniture designers of New York, this instrument helped Weber challenge Steinway at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. The piano is serial number 9957, and has a compass of AAA-c5, tape-check upright action (probably not original), felt hammers, single-, double-, and triple-strings, cross-strung, 2 pedals: “soft” and dampers, a double iron frame, and an ebonized case with inlaid designs and gilded banding
Credit: Smithsonian