Square Piano (William Rolfe & Sons)
Catalogue number: 12.3
Original name: Square Piano.
Maker: William Rolfe & Sons.
Place of origin: London, c.1790.
Overall size: Compass: 5 陆 octaves: F1 - C7.
Current ownership: Martin Perkins.
Inscription: Name plate above keyboard; instruction sheet inside instrument: 鈥淏Y ROYAL PATENT / [motif: royal appointment crest] / Wm. Rolfe & Sons, / Real Manufacturer / OF GRAND AND SQUARE PIANOFORTES &C. / No. 112, Cheapside, opposite Bow Church, / and at their Manufactory. / London Wall, near Coleman Street, London / [line] / W. Rolfe sensible of the Injury which Instruments of every / description sustain from the inexperience presumes it will not be / thought altogether inconsistent if he offers a few observations for / the benefit of those whom practice has not rendered efficient. / DIRECTIONS / for Regulating the Patent Double action Piano Forte. / If the hammer by use gets unequal & ceases to answer the finger / with that accuracy required, take out the fore-boards & turn the brass / screw which projects from the lever fixed in the Key inwards particularly / observing that when the Key is softly press鈥檇 down the ham[me]r. uses no higher / than within an 8th of an Inch of the string - otherwise when the Key / is struck it will remain fix鈥檇 against the wires & destroy that tone it is / calculated to produce.
If on the other hand the hammer itself is implied / to remain against the string after it has performed its office the contrary will / effect the necessary alteration. To take out a key press it down in front, / extricate the Lever from under hammer by removing it forward with / the fore finger, then lift the key up beyond the center [sic.] pin & it will come / out with ease. If a key should stick on its centre or in front it may be / necessary to take it out observing the above directions & with a penknife to scrape the corrosive matter occasioned by the friction of the pins which / guide it within the mortises: the key will then play with ease. / Scale of Strings / [diagram of string scaling on one stave: 鈥淟owest Note / to [D#] / Cover鈥檇 Strings鈥�, 鈥渇rom [E] to [F#] / 14 Brass鈥�, 鈥淸G] to [B] / 13 Do鈥�, 鈥淸c] to [d#] / 12 Do鈥�, 鈥淸e] to [g] / 12 Steel鈥�, 鈥淸g#] to [e鈥橾 \ 11 Steel鈥�, and 鈥淸f鈥橾 to ye high鈥檛 Note / 10 Steel鈥�.
Repair history: The action has been significantly altered.
Illustration references: See below.