Viennese Grand Piano - Image 1

The seven pedals on the Thym grand piano include: una corda, harp, bassoon, damper, strong moderator, medium moderator, and Janissary (bells and bass drum). Such special effects were quite popular in Vienna at the time this instrument was built. The purpleheart case has an inlaid ebony/fruitwood edging that depicts a red vine with sunflowers and leaves, strings of red beads with an ink drawing of a woman's face in the center, and grapes and grape leaves. The curved, fruitwood nameboard features a delicately drawn pen and ink landscape that includes angels and cherubs, a statue of a woman, an amorous couple with the man holding a lyre and the woman a wreath, and a large rock, right of center, on which the maker's name is inscribed. The vertical moldings contain three images--a portrait of a woman, a profile of a man, and a lyre. The piano is held up by four figures wearing long, gold-painted turbans. The pedal support, also gold-painted, is shaped like a fountain supported by the tails of two dolphins.