Folding Upright Piano

This upright piano was made by John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1801. Hawkins patented an ingenious small upright piano with a folding keyboard, of which the Smithsonian’s is an example. Other piano experiments were an upright instrument, the Claviol, which bowed the strings, a system of attaching the strings to a nut on a threaded rod, and the use of springs as strings in the bass. Only three of his instruments are known to survive. This piano is serial number 6 and has a compass of FF-f3, Hawkins upright action, felt hammers (originally leather), double-strings, 2 pedals: moderator and swell (which opens shutters in the case below the keyboard), wood frame with iron bars behind the soundboard, straight-strung, and a mahogany veneer case with metal carrying handles

Credit: Smithsonian