Hexagonal piano

The instrument has the unusual shape of a hexagonal rosewood-lined table. The action is particular with hammers placed above the strings that have a downward movement. Two pedals insert the devices "una corda" and "resonance". Johann Heinrich Pape was a prolific inventor of devices applied to the piano. The model of this original hexagonal piano, whose patent was deposited in 1835, is characterised by remarkable loudness though the body is small with a very compact shape. An inscription in gold letters on the lid states that this specimen belonged to Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington. Another of his such instruments is preserved at the Muséè de la Musique in Paris (Inv. no. E.978.5.1).