Christian Ernst Friderici was undoubtedly an important figure in the early development of piano-building. Around 1730, he was learning his trade with Gottfried Silbermann in Freiberg; later, he opened his own workshop in Gera, eastern Germany. Throughout his life, he enjoyed great fame among composers, musicians and theoreticians alike, and both Mozart and Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach had an instrument of his. The Germany of the mid-eighteenth century also saw pianos other than the conventional ‘grands’ being built.
This pyramid piano from 1745 is one of the oldest upright pianos, besides being the oldest piano in the mim collection. It has the structure of a grand piano on a stand. Just three of Friderici’s pianos have been preserved and the mim has the only signed one. The signature is behind the finely worked paperboard rose, within the sound-box. The inlay work with several types of wood is exceptionally refined. This is a rare example of a piano in Louis XV style.