Square piano

The English and Viennese square pianos were built in many different designs, including within the action as well as general appearance, from roughly 1760.

Because of the competitive industry and relative youth of the instrument design itself, experimentation ensued in the early years, creating a range of moderators (sound-altering effects) and other technical devices (knee levers; hand stops) not seen today.

Square pianos were owned by everyone from George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to Marie Antoinette[2] and Jane Austen.

[3] In the 1860s, more extensive metal frames were developed for square grand pianos, meaning that higher string tensions and therefore greater volumes were possible; however the size increases meant that the upright piano design was more economical, and so the upright replaced the square as the most common home instrument.

Built in quantity through the 1890s in the United States, Steinway's celebrated iron-framed, overstrung square grands were more than two and a half times the size of Zumpe's wood-framed instruments that were successful a century before.