Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
ART AS APPLIED TO PIANO DECORATION.
Pianos Conforming These Days to the Artistic Furnishings of the Homes of the Wealthy People
—Steinway & Sons' Great Work in This Especial Art Field.
cessfully tried in the past, as witness the famous
Martin with his delicate lacquers. Indeed, some
fine examples in this kind of decoration are to
be found in the Metropolitan Museum in the
Crosby Brown collection. The eighteenth cen-
tury work of Anton Vatter, of Vienna, exampled
in the dainty harpsichord evidences a high de-
gree of taste and love for the beautiful. Here
also are spinets and more modern cases, some
painted and embellished with pastoral and figure
subjects, rich in color, which may be from the
brush of a Rubens or
Boucher, others carved
with great care in nat-
ural wood, and full of in-
tricate detail—these are
the forerunners of what
must ultimately be the
vogue and displace the
elegant shapeless masses
of varnished wood which
encumber the houses of
to-day.
"The superb instru-
ments which furnish the
illustrations for this ar-
ticle are examples of the
purest styles of Colonial
Art (the art of Ameri-
ca's future) after such
artists as Adam, Shera-
ton and Heppelwhite.
The subject of the Adam
period in England, and
its American reflection
in the delicate purity
and chaste beauty of Col-
onial interiors, cannot
fail to be of utmost in-
terest to both architect
and owner of artistic
homes. This discovery
and adaptation of styles
to meet original con-
ditions
is not
less
worthy of praise than
the creation of a new
STKINWAY COLONIAL INLAID MAHOGANY OKAND AFTER SHERATON AND HEl'PEI.WII ITE.
design would be.
The
catering to this particular trend of artistic de- general outline of the body of a piano
velopment, and have turned out some remarkable are determined by the scale of the instrument.
creations made to order, after accepted schools The possible variations of form exist in the legs,
which have elicited the highest critical praise the music rack and the lyre which carries the
from connoisseurs. Eminent artists and archi- pedals. With these limited possibilities the
tects have been consulted, and their services house of Steinway has succeeded in giving a
employed in this connection, with the result that striking individuality to their work.
the art department of Steinway & Sons to-day is
"To none other than Madame de Pompadour,
one of the most complete of its kind in the world. who sent artists to Pompeii for study and in-
In talking this week with a prominent member spiration, can we ascribe the purity of taste, the
of the artistic department of Steinway & Sons on Roman influence and Pbmpeian refinement of the
this subject he said:
Adam, Sheratan and Chippendale creations. As
"The idea of enlisting the fine arts in adorning mahogany was to Chippendale so was satinwood
household furniture is one that has been suc- to Adam. It was a new wood in his time and
Within recent years the American people have
paid more attention than ever before to artistic
home decoration. The old stilted placing of pic-
tures nnd fruniture, and the lack of sympathy
in the matter of colorings are fast disappearing.
In pianos as in everything else there is mani-
fest a desire to have their architecture in con-
formity with the general style of interior fur-
nishings.
For years, Steinway & Sons have, through
their art department, paid particular attention to
STKINWAY COLONIAL GRAND PIANO IN SATINWM II), SlIOWINl! FliKNCII
especially adapted to his style of work. His
method of decoration differed materially from
that of his predecessors, for in place of carving
his new work his embellishment was painting
and delicate lines of inlay and effects of old
ivory. The effect of these classic designs, with
all the subtleties of lovely flowers, love knots,
pearl chains and ribbon garlands of excessive
daintiness executed in soft colors on the golden
glow of satinwood, has a charm which none can
resist.
"And here it might be fitting to speak of two
or three of the artists whose work Adam used.
One of these was Pergolesi, although his designs
were mainly in relief work. Antonio Zucchi, an
Italian, was another, whose personality is more
interesting because he it was who won the heart
ANMSKl.N'A
KUITMANN.
of Angelica Kauffmann, whose ceiling painting
for Adam is world celebrated. This gifted and
charming young woman was the friend of Sir
Joshua Reynolds." These pianos which have fur-
nished the occasion for adornment of the most
chaste and lavish kind the world of art has ever
seen in any age possess the most majestic and
noble tone, the creation and perfection of which
has been the work of the house of Steinway for
three generations. To the solidity of construc-
tion, the extraordinary perfection of every de-
tail of manufacture and the nature of the ma-
terials used most owners attribute the surprising
smoothness and duration of tone. The secret of
the art of musical instruments lies in the indi-
viduality and art of their inventors, in the same
sense that the grace of Poynter's figures, or Alma
Tadema's exquisite combinations of line and
color are the creations of the genius of these
great artists. Thus in every point are these
unique masterpieces the perfection of science and
beauty.
Ei: WAY IN ADAM DKSIUN, WBITK AlAJJOOASV DECOUATIUI,