Home > Research Projects >Pianos >Winchester Piano
Description by Dwight Newton, 2006.
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The Ephraim McDowell House is a historic house and museum in Danville, Kentucky. McDowell (1771 to 1830) was the first physician to successfully complete an abdominal surgery. The procedure (removal of a 21 pound ovarian tumor from a woman who had been thought to be pregnant) took place in 1809 in this house, which also has an attached apothecary shop. McDowell is a famous and important figure in early Kentucky history.
The house is located adjacent to Contstitution Square in Danville, Kentucky's first capital, which is a memorial park that celebrates the statehood of Kentucky and the framing of its constitution in a tavern on the square that was used as a meeting house. There are several reconstructed log cabins in the square including the actual log building (moved from its original location a few blocks away) that served as the first post office west of the Alleghenies.
The furnishings in the house, as we have often seen, are a mix of authentic McDowell family relics, other period pieces, and a few old, but inappropriate pieces.
My colleague, Nikos Pappas, and I dropped by on a Tuesday afternoon in July because we were in the area visiting the Whitley house in Stanford where they had an Astor & Horwood piano. We went in to the McDowell House office and just asked if they happened to have an early piano. We were warmly welcomed by the director and her assistant and were ushered to the parlor where we saw not one, but two Viennese action pianos from Pennsylvania: an instrument by Charles Pommer of Philadelphia and an earlier (or at least simpler) piano by Gottlieb Stralheim of Maytown (about 50 miles west of Philadelphia).
The piano is displayed with a nameless and uninteresting violin and flute.
The inner dust cover is intact and appears to be original.
The piano is 5-1/2 octaves with triple strung trebles. There are two pedal-activated effects: a sustain and a buff stop.
The back left corner hitchpin block has pulled up at the back and is sitting at a rather extreme tilt.
The buff stop mechanism is clearly visible here.
The back corner space is covered in plain black silk. This may not be original as the dust covers in the Stralheim instrument appear to be of the same material, suggesting that they may have been done at the same time. This is conjecture.
We were not able to remove the name board on the Pommer as it was swolen tight. With the full soundboard our view of the action was very limited.
The double pedal harp is missing an ear and the dowels that would imitate strings. Also missing are connecting rods or wires leading to the effects mechanisms.
The effects levers.
Copyright 2006 by Dwight Newton. All rights reserved.
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