Broadwood Grand Piano with an Inlaid, Fiddleback Mahogany Case and Fluted, Tapered Legs Attached with a Cross Stretcher

Reconditioned, 1894, Broadwood grand piano with a fiddleback mahogany case and tapered fluted legs attached with a cross stretcher. Cabinet inlaid with oval panels featuring muical instruments and foliage and flowers and satinwood crossbanding and stringing accents. The leg architrave features carved circular strapwork, a motif repeated in the cross stretcher design. The two-pedal piano lyre is a rectangular frame carved with bundled reeds with a central traditional lyre. The music desk is rectangular in design, inlaid with satinwood crossbanding and stringing accents. The lid stay is a single circular rod with brass finial. Cabinet is inlaid with ovals featuring a variety of classical motifs. On the piano cheek, a floral headband is adorned with crossed myrtle branches. The piano fall inlay features an oval containing musical instruments amidst oak leaves and a myrtle wreath. Elsewhere on the cabinet an oval features a tambourine surrounded by vine leaves and bunches of grapes.

John Broadwood & Sons
John Broadwood & Sons is an English piano manufacturer, founded in 1728 by Burkat Shudi and continued after his death in 1773 by John Broadwood. John Broadwood (1732–1812), a Scottish joiner and cabinetmaker, came to London in 1761 and began to work for the Swiss harpsichord manufacturer Burkat Shudi. He married Shudi's daughter eight years later and became a partner in the firm in 1770. As the popularity of the harpsichord declined, the firm concentrated on the manufacture of pianos, abandoning the harpsichord altogether in 1793. The firm's busiest time period was during the 1850s, when approximately 2,500 instruments were produced annually. Frédéric Chopin played Broadwood instruments in Britain, including at the last concert of his life given at Guildhall, London, in 1848.