Messrs Wilkinson & Wornum's Upright Patent Pianoforte - Hand-Colored Engraving

Description

[Piano] [Wornum, Robert. (1780-1852) & Wilkinson, George. (1783-1855)]
Messrs Wilkinson & Wornum's Upright Patent Pianoforte - Hand-Colored Engraving
An attractive hand-colored copperplate engraving, ca. 1812, of the earliest upright piano, designed and built by Robert Wornum and George Wilkinson. In fine condition with an attractive mat. Page size 5.75 x 9.25 inches (14.4 x 23.5 cm), tipped to a window mat with total size 11.25 x 14.5 inches (28.5 x 36.8 cm).
Robert Wornum, important piano maker and music publisher in London, introduced the small cottage and oblique uprights and an action considered to be the predecessor of the modern upright action which was used in Europe through the early 20th century. In 1810, Wornum formed a partnership with George Wilkinson and in the following year, he patented his "unique action." One of the first uprights to use this innovation is illustrated in the February 1812 issue of The Repository of Arts under the heading "Fashionable Furniture", with the explanation that these had become a much requested item due to their improvements which "procured this instrument a very high degree of reputation". The brief note described that they ranged from six feet to seven feet two inches high (183 to 218 cm) and were available in mahogany as well as rosewood with brass, and praised their "unrivalled" touch and the suitability of their tone—particularly of the instruments with two strings per note—for accompanying voice. Wornum went on to make numerous important innovations in piano making and by 1813, had introduced a second upright design with vertical strings, that he called the "harmonic" and which is generally considered the first successful cottage upright. François-Joseph Fétis wrote in 1851 that he had played upon two of Wornum's uprights in 1829 and found they had significant, though unspecified, advantages over those of other manufacturers.
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