CIRCA 1775, PROBABLY BY JOSEPH MERLIN

Zumpe's first action, or English single action for square pianos, is named after its inventor, Johann Zumpe (1726-1790). It is an early action for square pianos in which the jack or hopper pushes directly on the hammer shank (without an intermediate lever) propelling the hammer towards the strings; it relies for its correct function on the arrested momentum of the keylever. That is, the key must reach the end of its downward travel before the hammer reaches the strings so that the hammer, continuing its upward trajectory, can strike the string unfettered and then fall away, or recoil. It is a much simplified, less sophisticated action than the one produced about 60 years earlier, around the beginning of the 18th century, by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the man generally credited with having invented the piano. Bach is known to have performed on a Zumpe square piano in 1768, and may also have acted as an agent for their sale.

We are grateful to Mimi S. Waitzman, Deputy Keeper of Musical Instruments, The Horniman Museum and Gardens, London, for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.