Upright piano, Jørgen Larsen, Copenhagen, nr 527 (1872), KH 401
Although the collections in Klaverens Hus focus on our own cultural heritage, it is important to be able to look at Swedish production in an international perspective. Our southern neighbor Denmark was at the forefront of construction, especially through Conrad Christian Hornung and his cast iron frame, and has had many factories, mainly in Copenhagen, producing high quality instruments.
Jørgen Larsen (1822-1899) opened his own piano factory in Copenhagen in 1855. Relatively few instruments — 2 tables and 2 pianos — are known from his factory, which is characterized as stable with a solid business. When he reported to Den Nordiske Industri– Landbrugs– og Kunstudstilling in Copenhagen in 1872, where Larsen participated with “to opretstaaende og et karnisformet Pianoforte” (two uprights and a rubenesque square), he gave the information that the factory had manufactured 515 instruments up to and including December 31, 1871.
Our piano has serial number 527 and, with its well-balanced design and high-quality carvings, should have been designed by an architect and made in the spring of 1872 to be displayed at that summer’s exhibition.
