{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O58877"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58877/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GV6590/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GV6590/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GV6590","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1131","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1132","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1133","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1134","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1135","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1136","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1137","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1138","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1139","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1140","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1141","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1142","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1143","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1144","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1145","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1146","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1147","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1148","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1149","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1150","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1151","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2014GW1158","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AT2719","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AX5442","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KB2996","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MC9587","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2019MC9579","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O58877/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O58877","accessionNumber":"48:1 to 4-1876","objectType":"Square piano","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Until about 1830, small pianos were shaped like rectangular boxes; in England they were known as ‘square pianos’. By 1791 Francisco Flórez (died 1824) was the leading piano maker in Madrid. He had spent the previous two years in London, studying English piano-making methods.\n\nFlórez fitted this instrument with an English action, but followed French fashions in decorating the case and legs in the Neo-classical style. Jean-Demosthène Dugourc (1749-1825), the favourite designer and supplier of luxury goods to Carlos IV of Spain (reigned 1788-1808), propagated this style in Spain. This fine example of Spanish Neo-Classical casework closely resembles an unsigned instrument in the Palacio Real in Madrid. It may well have been made for someone at the court of Carlos IV (reigned 1788-1808) as Flórez is known to have supplied instruments to the King and the Condesa-Duquesa de Benavente. ","physicalDescription":"'The casework is of mahogany and rosewood decorated with brass banding, carved and gilt foliage, and plaques of cut horn and paper set on a blue ground to resemble Wedgwood jasperware medallions. The French-style frame has square tapered legs with gilt brass mounts. (The music stand is missing). The wrest-plank is of massive construction with a 50mm layer of beech laid on the same depth of pine. The bottom board is of oak rather than the lime or pine usually found on instruments in the English style of construction. The soundboard of spruce measures 3-4mm in diameter and a triangular piece has been inlaid at the right-hand rear corner. The scantlings are <i>c</i>. 18mm.'\n\nHoward Schott, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part I: Keyboard Instruments </i>(London, 1985), p. 109.\n\n\n\n","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Flórez, Francisco","id":"A6692"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":"Francisco Flórez (b. Murcia, d. 1824) was Spain's foremost piano maker during this period. He is known to have been making instruments from 1784. From November 1784 he advertised in the <i>Gaceta de Madrid</i> as working at the calle San Bernardo, Madrid. In 1789 he was sent to London by the Spanish Crown to study English methods of making pianos for at least two years and was back by October 1791, when he advertised his instruments in the <i>Diario de Madrid</i>. These included glass harmonicas and pianos, fitted with gadgets that imitated the violin and cello and improved the sustain of the note (<i>voz sustenida</i>); he supplied the king with one of the latter in 1795 (in that year he also styled himself 'Constructor de Fortepiano de Camara de Su Majestad').\n\nPerhaps Flórez's largest piano was an upright of 1807 surmounted with a clock, and thought to have been designed by the French designer Jean-Démosthène Dugourc (1749-1825). Flórez must either have employed both cabinet-makers and gilt-bronze specialists to produce elaborately decorated pianos or have had access to such skills from specialist workshops. Flórez suspended his business activities during the French occupation of Madrid (1808-12). From about 1814 until his death in 1824, his activities remain obscure. In 1814 he offered to present a piano-organ to Ferdinand VII (reigned 1808, 1813-33), which was posthumously finished by his son in 1824. \n\n"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"materials":[{"text":"mahogany","id":"AAT12221"},{"text":"rosewood","id":"AAT12424"},{"text":"brass","id":"AAT10946"},{"text":"horn","id":"AAT11826"},{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carved","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"The small roundels are intended to resemble blue and white jasperware plaques, although they are in fact carved in horn or ivory on a blue ground. The blue ground is painted with details such as trees in a white bodycolour. Some of the horn is cut very thin and has been used to simulate water in the landscapes. The roundels are glazed.\n\nWhen the case was restored by the Museum's Conservation Department in 1963, the missing ivory medallions were replaced by coloured photostats. (These have subsequently been removed).\n\nFor a discussion of the use of Wedgwood plaques to decorate pianos, see Alison Kelly, <i>Decorative Wedgwood in Architecture and Furniture</i> (Country Life, London, 1965) pp. 128-9.","categories":[{"text":"furniture","id":"THES48948"},{"text":"Musical instruments","id":"THES48919"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2013GV6590","2014GW1131","2014GW1132","2014GW1133","2014GW1134","2014GW1135","2014GW1136","2014GW1137","2014GW1138","2014GW1139","2014GW1140","2014GW1141","2014GW1142","2014GW1143","2014GW1144","2014GW1145","2014GW1146","2014GW1147","2014GW1148","2014GW1149","2014GW1150","2014GW1151","2014GW1158","2006AT2719","2006AX5442","2017KB2996","2019MC9587","2019MC9579"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"1","id":"THES263059"},"free":"","case":"PL2","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"004","id":"THES302807"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES340977"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES340977"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Square piano","id":""}],[{"text":"key","id":""}],[{"text":"strings","id":""}],[{"text":"plaques","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Spain","id":"x29170"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1800","earliest":"1795-01-01","latest":"1804-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"93.5","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"909","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"7140","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"595","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Flórez","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"In ink, on the side of the lowest key"},{"content":"Madrid","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"In ink, on the bottom of the lowest key"},{"content":"Flórez","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"In ink, on the side of the top key"}],"objectHistory":"Purchased from Señor Juan Riaño, Madrid for £21 in 1876\n\nRiaño reports MA/1/R741/7 1876-7\r\nJan 4th  1876 -Riañonotes that he bought the rectangular piano as instructed (24/12/75) from Senor [sic] Jesusa, payment of £21 through J Allard &amp; Co. To be sent via Cadiz on the English steamer ‘Cadiz’. “As dealers here do not always ask the last price for the objects they sell I have been able to obtain this piano for 2000 reales £21 instead of the £30 which she [sic] originally asked for it.” Later Riano refers to the dealer’s receipt sent to London (not on file).\r\n\n\n The name 'FLOREZ MADRID' was discovered on the outer keys, written in ink, during conservation work at the Museum in 1963 (Departmental Catalogue).","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Square piano by Francisco Flórez, Madrid, ca. 1800","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Howard Schott, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part I: Keyboard Instruments </i>(London, 1985), p. 109.\n\nChristopher Wilk, ed. <i>Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day (</i>London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1996) 230p., ill. ISBN 085667463X. p. 136."},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Elizabeth Miller and Hilary Young, eds., <i>The Arts of Living. Europe 1600-1815</i>. V&A Publishing, 2015. ISBN: 978 1 85177 807 2, illustrated p. 169."}],"production":"English-type square pianos were apparently made in Spain in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. An instrument of this type dated 1788 (Koster Collection, New Bedford, Massachusetts), inscribed <i>Del Mormol / en Sevilla</i>, for example, is remarkably similar to English squares of a few years earlier as regards form, construction, type of action and even the casework, albeit of lesser refinement. The English influence to be seen in the pianos made by Flórez for the Royal Palace in Madrid has been noted (Juan Jose Junquera, <i>La decoración y el mobilario de los palcios de Carlos IV</i>, Madrid, 1979, 32. A cabinet upright by Flórez in the Palacio Real is illustrated there, Plate 6). The present piano by Flórez, decorated with gilt ornaments and medallions inspired by Wedgwood originals, recalls the remarkable Broadwood piano of 1796 with a case said to have been designed by Thomas Sheraton. The Broadwood is a grand piano (formerly in the Deerfield Museum, now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) with a satinwood case set with 'Wedgwood's and Tassie's medallions' as the original bill states, and is richly decorated with gilt ornament. It bears the Spanish royal arms because it was presented to the Queen of Spain, Maria Luisa de Parma, by Don Manuel de Godoy, Prime Minister of Spain, who had commissioned it in London. (See James 1930, Plate LXII and William Dale, <i>Tschudi, The Harpsichord Maker</i>, London, 1913.)\n\nHoward Schott, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part I: Keyboard Instruments </i>(London, 1985), p. 109.","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[{"text":"","id":""}],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[{"text":"","id":""}],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"scrolling foliage","id":"AAT165387"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"‘Square’ piano\r\nAbout 1800\n\nFrom about the 1770s, the piano became the main keyboard instrument for professional and domestic music-making in Europe. It was more expressive and had a greater dynamic range than any keyboard instrument that had gone before. This form of piano was particularly popular in homes because it was space-efficient. This one is decorated with blue-and-white medallions that may have been intended to imitate porcelain or Wedgwood jasperware.\r\n\r\nSpain (Madrid)\r\nBy Francisco Flórez\r\nMahogany and rosewood case; medallions of cut horn backed with painted paper; gilded copper alloy mounts\r\n","date":{"text":"09/12/2015","earliest":"2015-12-09","latest":"2015-12-09"}},{"text":"SQUARE PIANO, Spanish, by Francisco Flórez, c. 1800., mahogany \r\ncase with gilt brass mounts and medallions of cut horn against a blue background, in imitation of Wedgwood Jasperware. \r\n \r\nThe instrument has a single action and a range of five and a half octaves, FF - c4. The highest notes are mounted on an extra frame under the soundboard, and their hammers emerge through a slot at the edge to strike the strings. \r\n \r\nMuseum No.: 48-1876 \r\nKeyboard Catalogue No.: 42","date":{"text":"pre September 2000","earliest":null,"latest":"2000-08-31"}}],"partNumbers":["48:1-1876","48:2-1876","48:3-1876","48:4-1876"],"accessionNumberNum":"48","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1876,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Square piano","key","strings","plaques"],"assets":["2019LM6058","2019LN8545","2019LU5139","2019LV1627","2019LW0801"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-12-08","recordCreationDate":"2001-05-16","availableToBook":false}}