John Broadwood
Johannes Broadwood London Fecit 1785 Patent
Great Pulteney Street Golden Square
John Broadwood (1732-1812) was undoubtedly the foremost English piano maker.
He began by building table pianos and then in 1783 began to produce grand pianos. In 1785 he became the first piano manufacturer to apply foot pedals, attaching two pedals to the front legs. In 1794 he extended the keyboard to six octaves: in Europe at this time the compass of a piano keyboard was only a little over five octaves.
The piano displayed here has a very simple “English single” action with brass underdampers.
style: square
width: cm. 159
depth: cm.54
height (floor to keyboard): cm. 71
compass: FF-f”’
octave size: cm. 16,35
strings: FF-E (bichord open-spun winding brass) F-d#(bichord brass) e-f”'(bichord iron)
bridge: continuous
action: single englisch underdampers
hammer covering: leater
pedals: none
knee levers: none
structure: wood
case: mahogany, maple and ebony
