Grand Pianos Cabinet Styles: 1920s - Current

Styles Turned legs had by now largely disappeared, in favour of single square legs. Moulded or bevelled lid-rims were replaced with straight-edges, and shaped or fretted Music-rests were replaced with plain ?slab' ones. Occasionally mock Jacobean-style cases were made, or cabriole legs used, for interest. Some distinctive Art-Deco style smaller Grands have also been produced.

Due to the conversion of many larger town-houses into flats and apartments, demand grew for smaller 'baby' grands, sometimes as small as only 4ft long, at the expense of larger instruments. These were usually rather cheaply made with single square legs, and this style, right through to the largest of concert grands, remains the same today.

Cabinet Veneers After the end of the 1st World War, Veneers such as Walnut and Rosewood became expensive, so mahogany became the veneer most frequently used. During the early 1920s many pianos were stained a very dark heavy maroon colour. During the 1930s, however, more natural woodgrain colours came back into fashion. Non-burr Walnut was increasingly used, but black tended to be used more in the Continent than in the UK.

The 1940s and 50s were a lean time for piano manufacturers, and unfortunately as the popularity of the piano declined many firms closed down during his period.

The 1960s, however, brought renewed interest in the piano and a change to mass-production via assembly-lines. This lead to increasingly simple and less robust designs. Out went attractive veneers due to high prices, and in came black in a high-density bright polyester, which was most popular during the 1980s and early 1990s.

Black is less popular today, and mahogany, cherry and light oak in both polyester and satin provide alternatives, both in grands and uprights. Some manufacturers are even venturing into traditional-style legs and music-rests, so, perhaps all is not yet lost for the older, more refined traditional styles !

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