At first glance this looks like a pretty standard upright piano, but on closer inspection it's possibly one of the very first true upright pianos.
Made by Robert Wornum in 1836, in need of restoration it sold for just £205 in Ebay recently. A nice addition to anybody's collection of historic keyboard instruments.
Horsburgh's 1786 instrument is arguably the first small upright piano but larger instruments were made in the 1790s, and some as early as 1740, so Wornum was not the first by any means, although he perfected the action used in all modern uprights.
Bill
Piano History Centre
Posted by: Bill Kibby-Johnson | May 16, 2012 at 01:14 PM