The Minerva piano: Broadwood No.43833 (circa 1875)
An upright piano in an unusual classical design bird's eye maple, foliate inlaid and tulipwood banded case, with gilt brass diagonal trellis grille panels to the front, flanked by fluted and half turned section pilasters with leaf scroll carved capitals, the inside with remains of an ink inscribed paper label.
Sold for
£660
inc. premium
Footnotes
- The Broadwood archive notes that this piano, serial number 43833, was built for Mr. Thomas Broadwood and delivered to his steam yacht 'Minerva', which was under construction at Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1875, at a time when he was Commodore of the Royal London Yacht Club.
The Minerva was sold to the Marquis of Conyngham in 1876 and the piano passed with it. However, although the yacht changed hands many times thereafter, eventually being wrecked off Spitzbergen in 1921, the piano was retained by the Marchioness of Conyngham who returned it to Broadwood for servicing in 1895.
Sold with a framed photographic image of the Minerva by Bekens of Cowes, and a framed page from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (ISDN) of 1875 showing an engraved print of the Minerva, with a descriptive paragraph verso.
Category: Musical Instruments / Pianos
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