Measuring 5’7″ in length, the Steinway & Sons Model M Grand Piano is considered by many to be the standard-setting ‘baby’ grand piano. First introduced at the New York Steinway Factory in 1911, these medium-sized instruments offer a balance between manageable size and high-level performance. Model M Grand Pianos are among the most popular instruments built by Steinway. However, Model M #345492 is set apart by its unique design and history.

Steinway & Sons reached its 100th anniversary in 1953. After enduring the recent devastation of WWII, the company was due for some deserved celebration. Following in the long tradition of master designers and craftsmen who designed special pianos for the company, industrial designer and architect Walter Dorwin Teague was contracted to design an art case instrument for Steinway’s centennial.

The Sketch 1111 design was the result of this remarkable partnership. Approximately 200 pianos in this cabinet design were built between 1953 and the early 1970s – a tiny number in comparison to overall production of the “regular” Model M!

The tapered cylindrical legs are capped off on both the top and bottom ends by polished brass ferrules. Framed between this trio of uniquely mid-century modern supports, is a unique oddity in piano design – a solid brass pedal lyre. This gleaming piece of industrial artwork floats with an impressive visual weightlessness.

At first, the piano’s cabinet seems identical to a “regular” Steinway cabinet design, until the careful viewer observes the uniquely arced cabinet arms. This subtle, sweeping alteration is continued in the model-specific design of the music desk/rack and the two-position lid-prop.

All of these visual points would be vapid if they did not support a powerful music instrument. Steinway & Sons Model M #345492 has been expertly restored by the team here at Chupp’s Piano Service. The piano’s action has been analyzed and the finest, dimensionally correct parts have been used in its restoration. This includes new German Renner wippens and Pacific Gold Label hammers. New keytops have been installed to the original wooden keysticks and the original ebony sharps were hand sanded and polished. This piano’s action has been regulated and voiced to allow for a responsive touch and the classic Steinway quality of tone. New Mapes International Gold music wire and Maples copper wound bass strings have been coiled to blued tuning pins. These were fitted into the a new, custom fit hard maple pinblock which holds them tightly for a stable tune. The piano features a new Bolduc solid spruce soundboard for optimum stability and quality of tone.