Timothy Gilbert

Biography

Timothy Gilbert, along with his brother Lemanuel, apprenticed under John Osborn before starting his own Boston piano business in 1829; he was for a time in partnership with Ebenezer R. Currier. His firm, Timothy Gilbert & Company (later T. Gilbert & Company), grew into a major house with agencies across the country, and Spillane judged his pianos far superior to his brother's. On February 10, 1841, Gilbert patented a set of ideas covering upright and square pianos in one specification, including an upright action and an all-metal back and plate designed to carry the soundboard independent of wooden connections; Spillane credits this patent with anticipating ideas later claimed in England by Wornum's 'tape-check' action. Gilbert patented a square action in 1847 resembling Chickering's earlier principle. In 1848 the firm opened a direct New York sales agency at 339 Broadway, later run by Horace Waters. In 1847 T. Gilbert & Company caused a stir with organ-pianos built to Obed Coleman's patented design. The firm nominally closed in 1868, though the name continued under successors. Timothy Gilbert, a Boston piano maker, introduced an upright piano action in 1841 that resembled Robert Wornum's mechanism but lacked the "tape check." Gilbert's action incorporated a patented device to assist the quick return of the hammer and a novel check screwed into the jack rocker, features Spillane calls deserving of special notice, though he notes the action was ultimately superseded. Later in the same work, Spillane credits Gilbert with anticipating the upright piano action still in use throughout the United States and with bequeathing many valuable technical ideas to the trade in connection with the upright's development, naming him alongside Alpheus Babcock and Jonas Chickering as one of the Boston makers responsible for distinctive features of the American piano. Timothy Gilbert is named as the maker to whom Edwin Fobes was reputedly apprenticed before Fobes began manufacturing on his own account in 1843. Gilbert's firm, T. Gilbert & Company of Boston, is separately listed among the makers whose instruments, alongside those of Hallet, Davis & Company, Nunns & Clark, Hall & Sons, and Conrad Meyer, were considered standard as early as 1851. Timothy Gilbert was among the apprentices trained in John Osborn's Boston shop after Osborn moved to Orange Street in 1819. Spillane groups him with fellow apprentice Lemanuel Gilbert among the 'subsequently eminent men' who trained under Osborn, distinguishing them from other apprentices in the same shop whom Spillane judged less significant when measured by results. Timothy Gilbert was a young cabinet maker who worked alongside Jonas Chickering in John Osborn's Boston shop, where both men learned the craft of pianoforte making. No further biographical detail is given in this text, though the chapter heading indicates 'The Gilberts' are discussed further elsewhere.

Highlights

• Brought out an upright piano action in 1841 similar to Wornum's but without the tape check, featuring a patented quick hammer-return device and a novel check design.
• Credited by Spillane as anticipating the upright action still in use throughout the United States and contributing many enduring technical ideas to upright piano development.
• Apprenticed in John Osborn's Boston shop, grouped by Spillane among the 'subsequently eminent' trainees.
• Companion of Jonas Chickering in John Osborn's Boston shop, where both learned pianoforte making
• Apprenticed under John Osborn with his brother Lemanuel; began business in 1829, at one point partnered with Ebenezer R. Currier.
• Patented an upright/square piano design on February 10, 1841, whose ideas Spillane says anticipated Wornum's English 'tape-check' action.
• Built T. Gilbert & Company into a major firm with nationwide agencies, including a New York agency opened in 1848.
• Edwin Fobes is said to have been his pupil before setting up on his own
• His firm, T. Gilbert & Company of Boston, was named among the standard instrument makers as of 1851

Source

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 38, 46, 57, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 96, 169, 170.

Public domain.