1996.582

Charles Robert Ashbee (designer), John & Sons Broadwood (maker), Walter Taylor (painter)

Semi-grand piano designed by C R A Ashbee in 1898-9, and made by the Guild of Handicraft in 1900. It was made as a wedding present from Ashbee to his new wife, Janet Forbes, who was a keen pianist. The painting was done by Walter Taylor, who had been an apprentice at the Guild of Handicraft, and who had gone on to work at Morris & Co. The words and images were taken from a poem by Ashbee Beethoven in Olympus; he had a particular fondness for that composer’s work. It was a focal point in the Ashbee household until the 1940s when it was given to Toynbee Hall, the pioneer University Settlement in the East End of London where Ashbee established the Guild of Handicraft in 1888.

London, London

1898 - 1900

Arts & Crafts

oak, wrought iron, vellum, ivory, ebony

C R ASHBEE DESIGNED AND GAVE THIS PIANO TO HIS WIFE, JANET, AS THE WEDDING GIFT, AND WALTER TAYLOR THEIR FRIEND DID THE PAINTINGJOHN BROADWOOD & SONS LONDONBroadwood Action 45542