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During a smallpox epidemic in 1746, this instrument was brought to the Whitefield House in Nazareth, Pennsylvania to aid in comforting the patients from the girls' school who were being attended to there. It reportedly has been in the building—now the Moravian Historical Society—since that time. It is not known whether the instrument was made in Germany and brought to America by the Moravians, or whether it was made in the American colonies.

Fewer than ten of these instruments can be found today in the United States.

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Originally posted by Frycek:
OT, you've outdone yourself. Great haul.

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Upright Piano designed by William James and George Ashdown Audsley for W. M. H. and G. H. Dreaper, piano makers. c. 1878. Height 48 inches; width 58 1/2 inches; depth 25 inches.

Awarded a medal the Exposition Universelle International de 1878 at Paris.

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Pyramid piano, circa 1825.
To answer a demand for pianos that occupied little space in music and living rooms but still looked elegant, upright pianos were devised in the shape of pyramids, giraffes and lyres. In keeping with their domestic raison d'etre these pianos were even often built to accommodate flower vases and pots. The southern German pyramid piano here has in addition to the usual two pedals, four "special effect" pedals. The rightmost pedal, for instance, controls a drum on the inside of the piano as well as the Turkish cymbals in the movable arms of the Moors. with this so-called "Janisary stop" Turkish marches and other similar salon pieces could be played to great effect.

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Originally posted by OperaTenor:
More on the Egyptian theme: