Welcome to

Friends of Square Pianos

This is a website for anyone who owns, or would like to own, a square piano, or possibly a spinet. Or a harpsichord, or a clavichord... Or anyone who is just interested, and would like to learn a little more.

Please get in touch with me, David, on friends.sp@btinternet.com with questions, comments, or just to say 'Hello'.  This is a site for everyone, especially those new to the world of Early Keyboard Instruments.  And of course, we very much appreciate the support of those with more experience.

Update September 14th

Ivory!  A Note Relevant to the

Piano Auctions Sale on Tuesday

A Rare Square Piano by John and Archibald Watson, Edinburgh, c. 1795

A remarkable Collard & Collard c. 1863

Free to Good Home

Broadwood c. 1835 Free to Good Home

Ivory!

In compliance with the UK Ivory Act 2018, Piano Auctions had no option other than carefully to remove the ivory sharp-tops from three instruments in Tuesday's Sale - two Morleys, and this harpsichord.  Few of us would want to play an instrument looking like this, and I am happy to recommend a solution.  Tim Harvey, a professional with fifty years experinence, who routinely replaces piano keyboards, will be happy to re-cap sharps with a quality synthetic material.  The price is £150 for a single manual; two-manual to be decided, but less than than double!  This on the basis that the keys are delivered and collected from Royston, Hertfordshire.  

The website is not currently active; phone 07494 547933

A Rare Square Piano by John and Archibald Watson, Edinburgh, c. 1795

This is a rare example of an eighteenth-century  Scottish piano.  It needs restoration , of course, but we start from a good base - it hasn't been 'interfered with', and now deserves to be restored properly. 

We know that there was a relationship betweeen John Broadwood and the start of piano making in Edinburgh - John Broadwood was a Scot after all, from Cockburnspath, not far away.  

It is to all intents and purposes a Broadwood of the first style 1784 - 1792, although possibly made a couple of years later.  

It will be in the auction of Bowler & Binnie, Dunfermline, Scotland, on 14th September.  Please see the Auction Page for pictures and details.

A remarkable Collard & Collard c. 1863

Free to Good Home

I do not often lead with a detail shot, but this c. 1863 Collard & Collard really is most unusual.  We we see in the image above is that as well as a full-length reinforcing bar, it has a remarkable overstrung layout.  This handsome 6¾-0ctave rosewood square piano is generously offered Free to Good Home.  Please see the Sale Page for pictures and full details.

Broadwood c. 1835 Free to Good Home

The nameboard inscription, bounded by brass inlay, refers to 'Their Majesties ' - William IV and Adelaide - who reigned from 1830 until 1837.  Before then it was 'His Majesty' (George IV)  - Queen Caroline died in 1821.  And in 1837, of course, Victoria ascended the throne.  We do not know the serial number, but various details indicate a date of around 1835.  This handsome piano is offered Free to Good Home.  Please see the Sale Page for pictures and details.  

Gardiner Houlgate Auction September 6th - Results

Admittedly the Lovely little Beck did need restoration, but it sold for just £15o, which sums up what I thought were disappointing results (or bargains, of course, depending on your point of view).  Please see the Auction Page for full details and results. 

This piano has reportedly been in the same family since 1849. There will also be a 1975 harpsichord by Thomas Kilpatrick, and two c.1970s instruments by Morley, a virginal and a clavichord. Please note that the the sharp-tops of these three were found to be ivory, and have therefore been removed.  More pictures have now been uploaded;

please see the Auction Page.

This handsome piano by the Royal maker Thomas Tomkison benefits from beautiful brass inlay on the rosewood nameboard and a very good mahogany case.  Happily, the pedal is present - these are so often lost.  Internally it does need complete restoration, but we can see the promise of an excellent outcome.  In view of the work needed, it is being offered Free to Good Home.  Please see the Sale Page for full details.

This  unusual instrument by the distinguished builder Christopher Barlow was designed with portability in mind - in fact to be accommodated on the back seat of an ordinary car - and it has certainly achieved this.  The bass strings are parallel to the keyboard ,  but those for the upper half of the compass are obliquely arranged, thereby reducing the depth of the instrument; this layout has worked well.  Please see the Sale Page for details.

This is a good example of the well-known four-octave Dolmetsch ottavino, in good working order.  Please see the Sale Page for details. 

'Grand Compass' Broadwood 1815

There are exceptions, of course, but between the years c. 1815 and 1825, the keyboard compass of pianos was increased from the usual 5½ octaves FF-c4 to six octaves, to accommodate the new music.  In England, grand pianos were often extended downwards to CC, squares more usually upwards to f4.  However, a few Broadwood squares were made with the CC 'Grand Compass'.  These are quite rare, but a good example was seen at Mendip Auctions (Somerset) on Tuesday 20th August. Sold for a rather disappointing £70 - but a bargain for somebody!

Spinet by John Bryan c. 1950s For Sale

David Law

For many years, David has been our favourite supplier of his beautiful replica brasswork for early keyboard instruments.  But he has been rather quiet lately.  I have just spoken to him - good to hear his voice. But he is not well these days, and he has asked me to offer the following bulletin:  He had a bad fall earlier in the year, which resulted in a complex fracture to his thigh and hip, needing metal implants.  He is out of hospital and back home, but his mobility and general health are seriously impaired. He sometimes spends a short time in his workshop, but he his limited in what he can do.  He has a backlog of promises and enquiries, and additionally has difficulty operating his computer, and so asks for our understanding and patience. If anyone does wish to contact him, the best way is by his mobile phone.

On behalf of all of us, I wished him well, and assured him that he was in all our thoughts.

Wornum Albion Square c. 1845 For Sale

A 'first' for Friends of Square Pianos, this historically important Albion Square by Robert Wornum is offered for sale by the Great-Great-Great-Grandson of the builder.  Robert Wornum was one of the great inventors in piano-world in the first half of the nineteenth century.  His innovations included down-striking grands, the 'Piccolo' compact upright, and of course the unique Albion Squares.  But surely his most important invention was the tape-check action, used in every upright made today,  nearly 200 years after the 1826 patent.  This unusually compact and historically valuable example of an Albion Square is now offered for sale.  Please see the Sale Page for pictures and details. 

Plans for Keene & Brackley Spinet -

Now Affordable!

The famous Keene and Brackley spinet is rightly the model for many reproductions, both amateur and professional.  I am happy to announce that by courtesy of the copyright owner of John Barnes' original plan, we are now able to offer copies at an affordable price; they are now available through Friends of Square Pianos for just £20, plus carriage at cost.  Please note that this is the original plan taken from the original instrument in the picture, not the EMS kit version which had two added sharps for GG# and d3#.

Even if you are not going to build an instrument yourself, anyone with an interest in spinets will find this plan fascinating.  

Please see the new page Plans For Sale for details of plans of spinets, harpsichords, and clavichords offered at reasonable prices.

Bespoke Tuning Hammers

Early keyboard Instruments, whether originals or replicas, do require more frequent tuning than modern iron-framed pianos.   The costs of professional tunings mount up, and it can also be a problem finding a tuner who is happy to work with our ancient instruments.  For this and other reasons, most of us do our own tuning.  To offer some help to those thinking of having a go, I have prepared a short PDF guide, available on request.

It is very important to have a properly-fitting tuning hammer, which should bear on a good portion of the two flat faces of the wrestpin (tuning-pin).  If the fit is too sloppy, the corners of the pin and the socket of the tuning hammer will be damaged, and the backlash makes accurate tuning difficult anyway.  If it is too small, it will grip the top of the pin only, with the same result.

Tuning-hammers are available from Lucy Coad or David Law - see 'Suppliers' page of this website.  Alternatively, I am now able to offer a limited number of hand-made hammers tailored to your own pins, either directly or via a template.  Please see the Tuning and Tuning Hammers page for details

I have made a number of very short and lopsided hammers; these have proved popular with owners of Broadwoods and other pianos with the pins at the back, and also with spinet owners.  In both cases the lid makes tuning difficult (unless it can be thrown right back) and these special hammers can help.  They don’t look as elegant as the long-stemmed symmetrical type, but they are quite practical!

The Spinets of the Hitchcock Dynasy - Names, Numbers, and Dates

The second of these two essays builds on the first ('1664 and All That' - see below) and offers a new interpretation of the data concerning the establishment of Thomas Hitchcock as the leading spinet maker.  It explains the somewhat confusing numbering sequences, their relationship to dates of manufacture, and the change on the nameboard from Thomas to John.  As before, the piece is rather long to transfer directly to this page, so please open the PDF below.

1664 and All That 

Some confusion still surrounds the early life and career of Thomas Hitchcock.  When was he active?  Who was ‘Thomas Hitchcock the Elder’?  One of the first histories of keyboard instruments in Britain was written by Edward Rimbault (pub. 1860).  He tells us that “John [!] Hitchcock made these little instruments of a compass of five octaves. Several specimens still exist bearing dates between 1620 and 1640”  It is likely that Rimbault mistook front numbers for dates, and numbers as high as this would indeed have carried the name of John Hitchcock, but it seems surprising that he had apparently never seen Hitchcock spinets carrying numbers which could not possibly have been dates, such as 1460.

Perhaps the most important early historian for keyboard instruments was Alfred Hipkins of Broadwoods.  He compiled the catalogue for the 1885 International Inventions Exhibition, and used this experience for his 1888 book ‘Musical Instruments – Historic, Rare, and Unique’.  It is in this book that Hipkins makes the notorious statement “…Thomas Hitchcock, whose autograph appears in spinets from 1664 and 1703.” 

His famous 1896 book ‘A Description and History of the Pianoforte’ repeats this as “Thomas Hitchcock’s written dates found within instruments made by him cover the long period between 1664 and 1703.”  But he then goes on to note that Hitchcock was the first to number his instruments, so he did realise that the numbers on the nameboards were not dates. 

As so often happens, later authors followed these statements as unchallenged facts, and the misunderstanding is repeated in James (1933) and Russell (1959).  Boalch ‘Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord’ (2^nd edition 1974 and presumably 1^st edition 1956) has a variation of the muddle, ascribing ‘1664’ to ‘Thomas the Elder’, and ‘1703’ to ‘Thomas the Younger’.  Even the 3^rd edition (1995) still has the entries, but the editor (Charles Mould) does realise that something is not quite right, and offers the plaintive statement: “…1664 does seem early for a wing spinet in London, and the date may have been misread.  If it were possible to locate this, and the other early Hitchcock instruments, it would be possible to be more precise about the identity and dates of the members of the Hitchcock family in the early years of their workshops.” 

So it was that, having kept a low profile since 1885, the mysterious ‘1664 Hitchcock’ emerged from the shadows.  This is the story of an important little spinet – it is my privilege to be part of the story.

The essay is a bit long to transfer to this page directly, so please open the PDF below.  All comments welcome!

  Some of you may have followed the construction - starting from a pile of wood - of this replica of a remarkable and important instrument.  The spinet is now complete and playing well, and has gone to its new home in the Sigal  Music Museum in South Carolina.   Please see the Spinet Page for the story.

About the 'Webmaster' (David Hackett)

My only claim to respectability is that Carl Dolmetsch once offered to take me on as an apprentice.  This was in 1962, when I had just shown him my first clavichord, and been his guest at Haslemere.  However, he also advised me that it would be better to go to University, and I accepted his advice.  Early Keyboard Instruments have therefore remained a hobby, and now happily retired, I am able to spend a bit more time enjoying them - and encouraging others, I hope..