Upright Piano designed by Mackay Hugh Baillie-Scott, 1865-1945. 1897. Oak and ivory with marquetry decoration inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl. Height 51 inches; width 56 1/2 inches; 17 1/2 depth inches. Manufactured by John Broadwood and Sons (serial no. 89409). Provenance: Ernest Harris, who reputedly purchased the paino at a Glasgow exhibition, c. 1905-6, and by descent to his daughter Mrs. Harries.
In 1896 while preparing designs for this piano, Baillie-Scott wrote and illustrated an article, "An Artist's House," for The Studio. The illustration for the artist's studio shows a "Manxman" piano with similar decoration, in which the motif of birds flanking a flowering tree is clearly discernible in the decorative lozenge on the cabinet door, while the lower part of the case was made of alternating planks of light and dark wood.
References
Baillie Scott, Mackay Hugh. "An Artist's House." The Studio 9 (1896): 28-37.
Spring '84. Exhibition catalogue. London: Fine Art Society, 1984. No. 39c.
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Last modified 6 November 2004