A beautiful and historic antique upright piano made in Paris by Antoine Bord. Burr walnut with beautifully carved scrolled legs and candle sconces. A lovely tone – tuned to. Baroque pitch A – 415 in 2017. I believe it is 1880s or earlier. It’s been loved and played ever since. Antoine Bord was one of Frances most esteemed piano manufacturers, established in Paris in 1840, and enjoyed huge success for over a century. He built pianos for grand clients across, including for the Russian Imperial court and Edward Elgar. Bord was born in Toulouse on October 13, 1814. The son of a baker, he learned piano-making in Marseilles and Lyons and worked for Martin in Toulouse and Pleyel in Paris. In 1843 he settled in Paris, where he invented the capo tasto, a metal bar that exerts downward pressure on the strings, increasing their resistance to the up-striking hammers and also improving sonority. His other patents included, in 1846, a double-escapement grand action, which employed a spiral spring later used in modern upright actions, and in 1855, an adaptation to the tops of the tuning pins to facilitate tuning. His pianos received numerous medals at expositions beginning in 1844, and in 1883 Bord was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour. The firms early success was primarily a result of Bords talent as an entrepreneur. While a prospectus from 1851includes grands and wing pianos, he concentrated on the mass production of small robust uprights, such as this one, cutting costs and establishing his pianettes (patented in 1857 as the Bibi Bord), particularly in France and England, as the best available inexpensive instruments. Annual production increased from about 500 pianos in 1850 to more than 4000 by 1880. By the 1890s the firm employed more than 300 workers. Bord was joined in 1877 by his nephew Antonin (b Toulouse, 1853), who succeeded him after his death on 5th March 1888. Pierre: Les Factures dinstruments de musique; les luthiers et la facture instrumentale (Paris, 1893). Harding: The Piano-forte: its History Traced to the Great Exhibition of 1851 (London, 1933, 2/1978). Ehrlich: The Piano: a History (London, 1976). The item “Antique Antoine Bord Parisian Burr Walnut Upright Piano. Ca. 1880s” is in sale since Wednesday, August 18, 2021. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments\Pianos, Keyboards & Organs\Pianos\Upright Pianos”. The seller is “captainavery” and is located in Eynsham. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Number of Keys: 85
- Instrument: Upright Piano
- Finish: Walnut
- Brand: Antoine Bord
