Grand Pianoforte ca. 1840 Érard This piano, featuring an extraordinary marquetry satinwood case designed by George Henry Blake, is one of the most elaborately decorated instruments of the nineteenth century. It was commissioned from the London branch of the distinguished French firm of Érard by Thomas Henry Foley, Baron of Kidderminster, for Witley Court, his residence near Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The decorative program of the piano consists of mythological personages, references to the Foley family, and symols related to music-making and musical instruments. The piano case features extraordinary marquetry that utilizes materials such as holly, mahogany, burl walnut, tulipwood, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and silver wire. When closed, the center of the lid top features a large music-themed marquetry trophy with instruments that include a hurdy-gurdy, tambourine, viol and bow, lute, panpipes, hunting horn, French horn, and sheets of music and a volume of Beethoven's symphonies. Th