Steinway & Sons Concert grand piano

Steinway & Sons
New York
1881
Chris Maene Collection, www.chrismaenecollection.com, inv. no. CM 53 501 

In 1876, Philadelphia hosted the Centennial International Exhibition, the first world’s fair on American soil to mark the 100th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence. Steinway & Sons presented the “Centennial Concert Grand” at the exhibition – and won first prize. The concert grand is considered the original grand piano of all modern concert grand pianos and was later given the type designation D.

The grand piano with the serial number 44.477 corresponds to the construction of a “Centennial Grand” with a cast iron frame, cross-stringing, 17-note bass section, curved bass bridge and duplex scale. The latter was used for the first time in the grand piano exhibited in Philadelphia. The case is also one of the earliest to be made using the rim-bending method developed by Theodor Steinweg (1825-1889) in 1880. For this method, several layers of thin wooden sheets are glued together and dried in a specially designed press that matches the shape of the wing. The casing is therefore made from one piece. Beforehand, the wood had been bent into the appropriate shape for the typical wing S-curve using steam and then glued to the adjacent walls. The housing therefore consisted of several parts; the procedure was complex and error-prone. 

The grand piano was shipped to Frankfurt am Main for an exhibition on March 9th, 1881.