Pirsson

Biography

Pirsson was a New York piano-maker whose innovations were widely discussed in the trade after 1850. With his partner in the firm Heers & Pirsson, he exhibited a 'double-grand' piano at the 1851 London World's Fair that won notice for its originality. In 1850 Pirsson patented (No. 7568) this double-grand form, reviving in modernized form a concept first tried in Europe as early as 1783 by one Swartz, a Munich spinet-maker. He also devised a mechanical screw tuning-pin invention; a square piano fitted with these pins won the gold medal at the Mechanics' Institute in 1847, edging out a similarly admired instrument by J. A. Grovesteen on the strength of the tuning-pin principle. Pirsson continued as a small New York maker until 1866, after which his name disappears from Spillane's record. Pirsson occupied the historic former Osborn factory building on Third Avenue and Fourteenth Street, New York, at some point after Worcester's tenancy. His 'double grands' won him some fleeting glory, according to Spillane, though no further detail is given.

Highlights

• Occupied the former Osborn factory building on Third Avenue and Fourteenth Street; his 'double grands' brought him some fleeting fame
• Exhibited a 'double-grand' piano at the 1851 London World's Fair with Heers & Pirsson
• Patented (No. 7568, 1850) a double-grand piano design reviving an 1783 Munich concept by one Swartz
• Won the gold medal at the Mechanics' Institute in 1847 for a square piano fitted with his mechanical screw tuning-pin invention
• Active as a small New York piano-maker until 1866

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 181, 196, 198, 199.

Public domain.