Square Piano by Taskin, P

Pascal Taskin (1723-1793) was born in Thieux, in the province of Liège in Belgium. At the start of his career, he emigrated to Paris to apprentice with Etienne Blanchet, the best French harpsichord maker of the time. From around 1770, he began importing English square pianos and from 1776, in addition to his famous harpsichords, he made his own fortepianos.  Six of his pianos have survived: four grand models (Yale Collection New Haven 1780, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin 1787, Philharmonie de Paris Musée de la Musique 1788 and Chateau de Versailles Paris 1790) and two square pianos (Philharmonie de Paris Musée de la Musique 1787 and the Chris Maene Collection 1791). A special feature of the square piano from the Chris Maene collection  is the mechanism of the keyboard. In this instrument, the keys are guided at the rear, as in harpsichords, in contrast to conventional square pianos, where the keys are guided at the front. Also as with a harpsichord, the depth of the key is determined by setting the rise height at the rear using a stop instead of limiting the depth with felt at the front under the key.

Former owners: Collection Knud Kaufmann Brussels

Technical data:

• Inscription: on a lable pasted on the fausse table PASCAL TASKIN, Facteur de Clavecins & Garde des Instruments de Musique du Roi. Elève et Successeur de M. Blanchet, rue de la Verrerie, vis-à-vis S. Merry, A PARIS. On the soundboard PASCAL TASKIN A PARIS 1791

• Compass: 5 octaves (FF-f''')

• Keyboard: naturals in ivory, sharps in ebony

• Pedals: 2 lute, damper

• Dimensions: W 153 cm / D 54 cm

• Case: Louis XVI Style, mahogany with stringing, hand polished

• Chris Maene Collection number: CM 46 296

• Condition: restored to concert level Chris Maene atelier Ruiselede 2025

• Location: 2 - Museum "Chris Maene Collection" Ruiselede