Commemorating A Very Special Occasion
To create a unique original musical masterpiece, the perfect piano for our clients beautiful home; an exquisite French chateau style manor built in 1862 by S. S. Teulon.
This is to be a masterful combination of a beautiful art case encompassing an exceptional piano that will complement the beautiful surroundings, suitably mark the wonderful occasion of our client’s marriage and become a family heirloom through future generations.
And from this brief started an amazing journey …
After exploring several piano options, a 4’11” / 152cm Blüthner baby grand piano that has been fully restored by our sister brand, 1066 Pianos, was selected as fulfilling all size, sound and aesthetic requirements for our client. Very enjoyable to play with delicate styling, this piano provided the perfect canvas.
With the piano specified, focus moved to the creation of an original artistic masterpiece which would be incorporated into the finished piano.
Following the Edelweiss design process, we brought our client and our design time together for an ‘around the table brainstorm’. Clearly both the bride and groom had to feature in the ultimate design; but we also discussed hobbies, what our clients enjoyed doing the most, family crests, favourite flowers, preferred colours amongst many other ideas.
The bride and groom are both competent musicians, she is a harpist and he plays the guitar. Both enjoy music, both enjoy playing their instruments and both enjoyed playing together – with so many happy memories and emotions involved this emerged as the perfect focal point for the final artistic theme.
Some very initial design sketches evolved, suggesting the two beautiful individuals could be playing their respective instruments, fondly looking at each other in one delightful picture on the underside of the piano lid. Our client, having been very involved all the way through this process, was delighted with this concept and their custom piano began to come together.
In keeping with the period and interior of their exquisite home, it was agreed that all this artwork would be formed using marquetry inlay rather than commissioning a painting … but should the theme be continued through the rest of the piano? With a family crest showing both oak leaves and pine needles a nature-inspired ribbon pattern running around the outline of the piano was agreed further enhancing the beauty and finesse of this truly unique Blüthner.
After incorporating a family crest above the treble leg, the design was fully signed off although two further design refinements were accepted. To reveal the true beauty of this original masterpiece, the lock rail ‘bar’ was removed from the lid and a sleek extra-long brass propstick was included to enable the lid to open to a near vertical position making the loving image the real focal point on this very special piano.
After more than 300 hours at the hands of our dedicated, passionate master craftsmen, we were delighted to produce the musical masterpiece shown in these pictures.
