quote:

Originally posted by Brian Becroft:
Anyone have any idea about this amazing looking piano?

Well, THAT is one hunky massive piano!

Looks Deco but I bet it is earlier. They surely made artwork out of the casing back then of both of these last two pianos. An era long gone with the current look of a rectangular shiney black box!

Della-Pleyela Double Grand Piano - Top & bottom view, Paris, 1914.
http://www.pianola.org/factsheets/pleyela.cfm

.."By the operation of a simple switch, the Della-Pleyela could be pedalled by foot or powered by electricity,"

..."There was, however, one remarkable postscript to this Franco-German co-operation, in that Gustave Lyon's irrepressible ingenuity led to his adapting a pedal-electric mechanism to his well-known Pleyel double grand piano. There is no evidence to suggest that this was any more than an experiment, but the supremely complicated instrument was photographed and reproduced in a French magazine, Je Sais Tout, in February 1914. Heaven knows who made the special roll-perforating machine!"

Ford Econoline 350 into a mobile apartment with piano
"If you always had the bohemian soul in you and you wanted to spend your life in the most artistic and carefree way ever,..."
http://elitechoice.org/2009/04...vels-in-hippy-glory/

Belgiojoso Erard
This piano is a huge part of Pianoforte Music History, being that this piano was used by many famous pianists from the Romantic period, people such as Liszt, Chopin, Pixis, Thalberg, Czerny and Herz! The piano was hand chosen by Liszt to be given as a present to the famous Princess Christina Belgiojoso for the use in her famous Salon in Paris. In March of 1837, there would be held a famous competition held on this piano with the two famous composers and pianists of the time, Liszt and Thalberg. At the end of this famous Concert, it would be up to the Princess to decide who was the over all best Pianist! Her famous answer to this was "Thalberg is the best pianist in the world, but Liszt is the only one!" If you could imagine the History behind this piano is extensive! Case being made of Rio Rosewood, being in a carved case in the Gothic style. Piano being supported on a trestle base. Piano is 240 cm long. Octaves is 6 octaves and a 5th from C to G

quote:

Originally posted by lilylady:

Looks Deco but I bet it is earlier. They surely made artwork out of the casing back then of both of these last two pianos. An era long gone with the current look of a rectangular shiny black box!

I'm not sure you'd find that fretwork with Art Deco - but I'm no expert. I sure like this one though. A pox on black boxes!

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Becroft:

Zorba like!

KRAKAUER 1934 ART DECO PIANO

Schönbrunn Palace Music room in the Empire style with a giraffe piano

The pictorial wallpaper in the adjacent music room conveys the illusion of the Brazilian jungle. This type of panoramic wallpaper with depictions of imaginary landscapes superseded the fresco as wall decoration in the first half of the 19th century. The "giraffe" pianoforte made by Martin Seuffert in 1812 is an indication of the flourishing musical instrument-making trade in Vienna at the time of Beethoven and Schubert.
Large Pic:
http://www.hofmobiliendepot.at...r/06_Musikzimmer.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Becroft:
Schönbrunn Palace Music room in the Empire style with a giraffe piano

The pictorial wallpaper in the adjacent music room conveys the illusion of the Brazilian jungle. This type of panoramic wallpaper with depictions of imaginary landscapes superseded the fresco as wall decoration in the first half of the 19th century. The "giraffe" pianoforte made by Martin Seuffert in 1812 is an indication of the flourishing musical instrument-making trade in Vienna at the time of Beethoven and Schubert.
Large Pic:
http://www.hofmobiliendepot.at...r/06_Musikzimmer.jpg

What an absolutely elegant and warm music room.

I went out to the website and zoomed the picture, 125, then 150, then 200 percent with no distortion, to be able to view closeups of the mural. Gorgeous, as is the giraffe piano and period (1820's) furniture.

Steinway Piano with Mia LaBerge artwork

In 2006 LaBerge was commissioned to paint a Steinway piano for James Madison University. Designed for JMU’s 2008 Centennial celebration, LaBerge's work features the hallmark buildings of the campus "Quad" and the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountain landscape.
http://www.labergeart.com/about.html

“Dreams Of The East” - is one-of-a kind, all hand-carved concert grand exhibited at Music China Fair in Shanghai.

The special edition concert grand with its images of Chinese landscapes carved in rosewood will be the centerpiece of Hailun’s exhibit at the show. Voicing specialist Sibin Zlatkovic is making his final adjustments to its exposed strings while the rest of the team looks on.

“We did this kind of work at Bösendorfer,” says Basilios Strmec, an Austrian who is now president Hailun USA. “This is a gorgeous piano, all hand-carved. It took 19 months to build.”

The showpiece piano represents a first step into the luxury piano market for Hailun, whose mid-priced instruments have taken hold throughout North America and Europe as well in as the domestic Chinese market.
http://www.hailun-pianos.com/blog/

Zorba like. Zorba want!

1840 English Upright Piano
The early 19th-century pianos designed for home use provided intimacy and poetic capability. This instrument's poignant and gently swirling sound, famous for its vocality, is perfectly matched to the sensibility of the early romantic era ("I wandered lonely as a cloud"). Chopin's beloved studio instrument--an exquisite voice for the nocturnes, mazurkas, preludes, and waltzes.

The Chichi Piano

This beautiful wooden creation was designed by Sarah Davenport of Davenport Designers and Cabinetmakers in the UK. She was inspired to design the rocking instrument, named ‘Chichi’, after a trip to the design show in Milan. “I was frustrated with the lack of soul I found in the majority of designs whilst out there so I set out to create a design that could speak,” says Davenport.
http://www.trendhunter.com/tre...-first-rocking-piano






View large pic:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4...es/l/in/photostream/

Bluthner Grand Piano Lid Art by Michael Fischer-Art

Bluthner grand piano, the Gewandhaus Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, painted by Michael Fischer-Art
http://translate.google.co.nz/...e&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8