Upright Piano by Debain, A

This upright player piano was made by Alexandre Debain in Paris, France, around 1851. It was a very early form of a player piano, which used small wooden planks, called planchettes to operate the automatic mechanism. The piano has a compass of CC-c5, Wornum tape-check action with dampers behind strings, felt hammers, 1, 2, and 3 strings per note, 2 pedals: keyboard shift and dampers, wood frame, and a rosewood case

Credit: Smithsonian