Érard, Paris; Straight-stringed grand piano made of rosewood, year 1906

Automatic translation from Danish.

Érard, Paris; Straight-stringed grand piano from 1906 with a rosewood veneer case, brass inlays, solid spruce keys covered with composite, the black keys of ebony. H. 99 / 174 cm. W. 140 cm. D. 186 cm.

Appears extremely well-played on all keys, well-maintained with general age-related wear, local small veneer chips on the wood, the original keys have been retained, however with replacement of the thin ivory coatings on the surface which have all been replaced with composite in the 1950/60s, the keys appear with some re-gluing and a few general age-related small cracks, without affecting the functionality. The grand piano appears professionally renovated in the early 2000s in almost 100% original condition, however, e.g. the old strings have been removed from the piano, and each new string has been carefully measured for diameter and size for a correct string scale for the instrument. Lauritz.com does not guarantee the functionality, any defects or shortcomings, nor for the glued keys.

The grand piano is described and dated in Érard's original data book via the Archives du Musée de la musique (see last photo), manufactured 3 November - 1906, stamped with serial number '91457' and '13 rue du Mail, 2nd arrondissement, Paris'. Provenance; The grand piano was commissioned in 1906 for a castle in Luxembourg, where it has stood until recently, when it was brought to Denmark.

This unique, straight-stringed grand piano with 85 notes and its matched rosewood veneer pattern is a fine example of French craftsmanship of the highest class. Érard was the leading piano factory in France for most of the nineteenth century. The company's founder, Sebastien Érard, arrived in France from Strasbourg at the age of sixteen and later dropped the 'h' from his surname to fit his new Parisian image. Erard made significant design changes to the piano's mechanism. His "double-escapement" mechanism, invented in the early 1800s and still used today, allowed for repeated notes and generally improved the response of the keys.
Franz Liszt was a great admirer of Érard pianos - in fact, he was an advocate for Érard. As a child prodigy on tour in Europe, he played pianos supplied to him by the Erard company.