Charles Watts

Biography

Charles Watts was an English pianoforte-maker who arrived in New York from London in January 1789. A notice in the Daily Gazette on June 8th of that year described him as a "musical instrument-maker" at 29 Broad Street, newly arrived from London with two of his own forte-pianos for sale, one featuring a new construction with brass dampers, and offering tuning and repair services. Watts remained in New York until March of the following year, when he relocated to Charleston. There, an advertisement in the Charleston City Gazette of September 10, 1791, found in the library of Mr. W. M. Thoms, shows him addressing his customers as a "cabinet and pianoforte-maker" newly moved to the corner of Broad Street and Market Square, opposite the State House, and offering repair of harpsichords, pianofortes, and spinets. The author notes that although Watts was well known in London as a pianoforte-maker before his departure, he was evidently obliged to advertise himself partly as a cabinet-maker out of commercial necessity in both New York and Charleston.

Highlights

• Arrived in New York from London in January 1789, bringing over two of his own forte-pianos, one of "a new construction with brass dampers"
• Relocated to Charleston by 1790 and, in an 1791 newspaper notice, advertised as a cabinet and pianoforte maker at the corner of Broad Street and Market Square
• Was already a well-known pianoforte maker in London before emigrating, but advertised himself partly as a cabinet-maker in America out of necessity

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), p. 125.

Public domain.