Adrian Alan
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A Very Fine Kingwood and Mahogany Marquetry Cased Grand Piano ( 1890 )
| Artists: |
MAISON JANSEN / STEINWAY |
| Dimensions: | 150.00cm wide 100.00cm high 210.00cm deep (59.06 inches wide 39.37 inches high 82.68 inches deep) |
| Description: |
The case is designed by Maison Jansen, who was known to have worked with François Linke and Majorelle prior to 1900, specifically interpreting the Louis XV Style. The case is of exceptional quality and it is rare to find such a high quality case with an exceptional Steinway movement.
The tapissier-decorateur Jean-Henri Jansen left his native Holland in 1880 for Paris to establish workshops that produced furnishings to satisfy all his clients' interior design needs. From his display rooms on the rue Royale and his workshops in the rue Pergolese, Jansen employed an impressive array of cabinetmakers, upholsterers, bronziers and gilders. Furniture from his workshops was of exemplary quality, following Eighteenth Century models with almost scholarly diligence and this regal taste was to become a hallmark of the firm. Patronised by princes and millionaires, captains of industry and leaders of international society, Maison Jansen became the most famous and influential interior decorating house of the late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth century. Amongst other commissions the firm designed a country house for King Leopold III of Belgium, rooms at Buckingham Palace for Edward VII, and designed interiors for Alfonso XII and XIII of Spain. Such was the success of his company that Jansen opened an extensive network of sale rooms and work shops in Argentina, New York, London, Sao Paulo, Prague, Havana, Rome, Cairo and Alexandria. The company continued to dominate the upper end of interior design well into the Twentieth Century. Under the designer Stephane Boudin, (1888-1967), who led Jansen from 1936 to 1961, as its president, the firm established what became the internationally recognised Jansen look: as James Abbot was to put it Maison Jansen created a skilful melding of Eighteenth Century palace historicism, 1920s Hollywood theatrics, and country house subtleties’. Major Twentieth Century commissions included interiors at the White House for Jacqueline and John F. Kennedy and rooms for the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Steinway & Sons was founded in 1853 by German immigrant Henry Engelhard Steinway in Manhattan USA. Henry was a master cabinet maker who built his first piano in the kitchen of his Germany home. By the time Henry established Steinway & Sons, he had built 482 pianos. The first piano produced by the company, number 483, was sold to a New York family for $500, and is now displayed at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Over the next forty years, Henry and his sons developed the modern piano. Almost half of the company's 114 patented inventions were developed during this period. Many of these late nineteenth-century inventions were based on emerging scientific research, including the acoustical theories of the renowned physicist Hermann von Helmholtz. Steinway's revolutionary designs and superior workmanship began receiving national recognition almost immediately. From 1855 onwards, Steinway pianos received gold medals at several U.S. and European exhibitions. The company gained international recognition in 1867 at the Paris Exhibition when it was awarded the prestigious Medaille d’or grande d’honneur for excellence in manufacturing and engineering. It was the first time an American company had received this award. Steinway pianos quickly became the piano of choice for many members of royalty and won the respect and admiration of the world's great pianists. In 1866 Steinway & Sons opened the first Steinway Hall on 14th Street which became New York City's artistic and cultural centre, housing the New York Philharmonic until Carnegie Hall opened in 1891. In 1871, Henry Sr. died and sons C.F. Theodore and William took over operations. An accomplished pianist, C.F. Theodore was responsible for the technical aspects of piano making and personally earned the company 41 patents, including one in 1875 for the modern concert grand piano. In the same year, William helped establish a showroom in London. Five years later, in 1880, the Hamburg factory began operating |
| Literature: |
Abbot, James Archer; 'Jansen'; Acanthus Press, 2006.
Crombie, David; 'Piano: Evolution, Design and Performance', Balafon, London 1985. |
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