Piano/Musical instrument
Pianoforte/Musical instrument
Maker & role
Emil Ascherberg (estab. Unknown, closed Unknown), Cabinetmaker
Production date
circa 1865
Object detail
Production place
Collection
Measurements
1 - Piano carcass, H: 148 x W: 141 x D: 66cm (H: 1480 x W: 1410 x D: 660mm); 2 - Lid, H: 76cm (H: 760mm); 3 - Candlestick, H: 17 x W: 18 x D: 6.7cm (H: 170 x W: 180 x D: 67mm); 4 - Wax catcher, H: 2.2 x Diam: 8.4cm (H: 22 x Diam: 84mm)
Signature & marks
Inside lid, under music shelf, in gilt lettering "Emil Ascherberg, Dresden".
Credit line
Purchase, 1985
Meroogal Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Meroogal Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Description
Upright burr walnut pianoforte. Grande upright, manufactured by Emil Ascherbergof, Dresden, No.1593.
This pianoforte still sits in the drawing room at Meroogal, the family home of the McKenzies, Thorburns, and Macgregors in Nowra, NSW. It was manufactured in burr Walnut by German cabinetmaker Emil Ascherberg, Dresden around 1865 and as an upright piano, was considered suitable for a modest house, as it could be placed against a wall.
Tot Thorburn’s diaries (dated 1888-1896) provide great detail into the musical studies and activities of Meroogal family and friends, describing home entertainment and regular rehearsals for church events and concert performances for the Nowra Choral Society (est.1886). The Meroogal sheet music collection, diaries and oral histories indicate the family were mostly interested in hymns and Scottish folk songs and no doubt many hours of practice and accompaniment were done on this instrument.
The piano was used into the 20th century, when a young June Wallace (1917-2010) daughter of Margaret Ross Steel, nee Macgregor, remembers her great-aunts Kate and Tot Thorburn playing, “ …the brass sconces always equipped with white candles …’. (MM, April 2017)
This pianoforte still sits in the drawing room at Meroogal, the family home of the McKenzies, Thorburns, and Macgregors in Nowra, NSW. It was manufactured in burr Walnut by German cabinetmaker Emil Ascherberg, Dresden around 1865 and as an upright piano, was considered suitable for a modest house, as it could be placed against a wall.
Tot Thorburn’s diaries (dated 1888-1896) provide great detail into the musical studies and activities of Meroogal family and friends, describing home entertainment and regular rehearsals for church events and concert performances for the Nowra Choral Society (est.1886). The Meroogal sheet music collection, diaries and oral histories indicate the family were mostly interested in hymns and Scottish folk songs and no doubt many hours of practice and accompaniment were done on this instrument.
The piano was used into the 20th century, when a young June Wallace (1917-2010) daughter of Margaret Ross Steel, nee Macgregor, remembers her great-aunts Kate and Tot Thorburn playing, “ …the brass sconces always equipped with white candles …’. (MM, April 2017)
Accession number
M86/95-1:4
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Contact Us
Head Office
The Mint, 10 Macquarie St
Sydney, NSW 2000
On Gadigal land
T 02 8239 2288
TTY 02 8239 2377
E info@mhnsw.au
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