Square Grand Pianos–Our Specialty!
The Square Grand Piano
Also known as a Box Grand, a Square Grand Piano has a rectangular cabinet and sits on four legs with its strings running left to right. During the 18th and 19th Centuries, more Square Grand Pianos were built and sold in America and Europe than any other type of pianos combined!In 18th Century Europe, the Piano-Forte was becoming more and more popular, quickly gaining favor over earlier traditional instruments. During the first part of the 18th Century, Piano-Fortes continued to be patterned after the shape and size of the Harpsichord. In about 1760, makers began building small rectangular shaped Piano-Fortes based on the shape and size of the Clavichord. The strings in these instruments ran from left to right rather than front to back as they did in grand piano-fortes. These early instruments were to be the first Square Grand Pianos, a design and style that would continue to evolve for almost 150 years.
The Square Grand Piano in America
In the last part of the 18th Century, John Jacob Astor started importing Square Grand Pianos to America from Europe. By the turn of the 19th Century, a handful of makers are recorded as having made some of the first Square Grand Pianos in America. For the next 100 years, the Square Grand Piano would evolve into a larger, heavier, and more mechanically refined instrument. During the 19th Century, American Piano Makers built and sold more Square Grand Pianos than Grand Pianos or Upright Pianos! Our vintage ephemera collections show these Square Grand Pianos selling for as much as $800 in the mid 19th Century – the cost of a small house! Sadly, however, they are all but forgotten today. By about 1880-1890, the American Upright Piano began to win favor as being more fashionable than the Square Grand Piano. Because they were smaller and took up less floor space, the Upright Piano caused the Square Grand Piano to become obsolete by 1900. As 20th Century America began to streamline in style and become a modern industrialized nation, these beautiful Pianos quickly became out-dated and served as garish reminders of another time. Sadly, for the past 100 years, Square Grand Pianos have consistently been chopped up, burned, or otherwise destroyed and lost forever.
|
Square Grand Restoration Services
At the Antique Piano Shop, we specialize in restoring Square Grand Pianos for individuals who desire to preserve their heirloom instruments.
Since Square Grand Pianos are so rare today, parts and supplies are not readily available for them by most piano supply companies as they are for conventional Grand and Upright Pianos. This is one of the reasons that most shops won’t rebuild Square Grand Pianos. We have most of our parts custom made for each piano, and everything else we actually make ourselves.
It seems that we are about the only company that specializes in Square Grand Piano restoration and preservation. Square Grand Piano restoration is not a quick and easy way to make money. It is a very specialized craft that takes a lot of time, patience, and attention to detail.
Right now we are accepting a limited number of new projects for our restoration shop. If you would like to get an accurate price quote to have your instrument restored, please go to this link and submit the requested information as accurately as possible: https://www.antiquepianoshop.com/restoration-services/restoration-packages/square-grand-piano-restoration-packages/
Square Grand Pianos For Sale
Listed at the following link is our online showroom gallery which features some of the Square Grand Pianos we currently have available for sale. Also listed are several of the Square Grand Pianos we’ve sold in the past. This gallery is designed to give you a general idea what Square Grand Pianos look like before and after restoration, and also to give the general public an accurate sense of the real market value for these restored instruments. Our entire online showroom can be seen at the following link: https://antiquepianoshop.com/product-category/square-grand/
|