The Million Dollar Steinway- A Prince's Love Piano with Original Hand Painted Art Work comes to Bohemia, NY
Bohemia, New York (PRWEB) March 29, 2016 -- A historic, hand painted Steinway was recently unearthed in Connecticut and restored on Long Island. This unique piano is available for viewing and purchase at Sonny’s Pianos, Bohemia, NY. Nicknamed “A Prince’s Love Piano,” the Steinway grand piano was built in 1900 by craftsmen at the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany. The piano is believed to been sold to a Prussian Prince living in La Tour de Peliz, Switzerland.
As if straight out of a fairy tale, the Prince apparently commissioned an artist to immortalize his love for his princess through a series of pastoral love scenes painted on the piano. Sonny Stancarone, owner of Sonny's Pianos, explains; “This isn’t just a one in a million Steinway; this is the only Steinway of this nature in the world.”
Sonny’s Pianos, located in Bohemia, New York, is one of the premiere restoration houses for pre-owned Steinways. Sonny’s buys, restores, and sells pre-owned Steinways to a worldwide market. Sonny’s specializes in Steinways and art case decorative pianos.
When it was sold to Sonny’s in the spring of 2015, the previous owner described its fascinating past. The owner’s grandmother had purchased the piano at Sotheby’s London Auction House in the 1920's from the estate of a prince. The piano remained in England until 1960 when it was shipped to her daughter in New York City as a wedding gift. In 1995, the daughter gave the piano to her son and he kept it in his home in Connecticut until it was sold to Sonny’s Pianos.
When Sonny purchased this piano in 2015, the years had taken their toll on the instrument and the artwork. Sonny’s team of expert technicians went to work and rebuilt the piano using the highest quality materials and parts available. A team of two artists completed the restoration of the paintings.
When he first saw the piano, Sonny knew immediately that this was no ordinary hand painted piano. Sonny said, “It was as if the piano spoke to me and told me that the paintings on the piano represented real people in history and were painted to immortalize a love story.”
Sonny and his staff spent several months researching and analyzing any information they could get about the piano. They contacted Steinway and Sons regarding the pedigree of the piano. Steinway records indicated that the piano was made in their Hamburg, Germany factory in 1900 and that it was initially sold to a buyer in La Tour de Peilz, Switzerland.
A European art history consultant and member of the Appraiser’s Association of America was hired to evaluate the piano artwork. Her research revealed that La Tour de Peilz was a holiday resort frequented by Prussian royalty. The La Tour de Peilz historical society confirmed that the king and queen of Prussia actually had an estate in that area around the same time. The Nestle Corporation now owns the estate.
The art consultant concluded that each scene represented a different love subject. The central theme for the Love Piano is the painting on the lid, a man and woman in a loving embrace. The man wears a crown of garlands on his head, perhaps representing royalty. The woman has red hair and fair skin representative of a person from that region of the world. The consultant determined that the paintings were “Vernis Martin” style, an 18th century technique named for the Martin brothers of Paris, who were instrumental in the development and refinement of lacquer in the style of Asian art. This style was the epitome of luxury and refinement made popular during the period of Louis XV, but ended after the French Revolution. During the mid 19th century, the trend revived and lasted until the 1920s.
The piano is a Steinway model “A” grand piano, also known as a Hamburg A. It measures six feet and has long been considered to be one of the most expensive and desirable piano models in the world, even to this day. Sonny christened the piano, “A Prince’s Love Piano” in honor of the love themes surrounding the instrument and all the other information that was discovered regarding the piano. Sonny is certain that this beautiful work of art and incredible musical instrument will be purchased by someone as a gift for a loved one, thus adding to the legend of the prince’s love piano.
The piano has already started to make a buzz in the media world as Fox 5 recently covered the story. Click HERE for the Fox News piece and click HERE for a video tour of the Prince’s Love Piano.
Sonny’s passion for pianos and in particular art case pianos goes back to his childhood when he became enamored with his fathers decorative German upright piano and his uncle's Steinway grand piano. Sonny first started playing the piano at seven years old when his father, a professional pianist, gave him lessons. His warehouse is stocked with a wide assortment of other beautiful art case pianos that he has restored. He calls it, “Sonny’s Exotic Art Case Pianos Collection.” To see other beautiful art case pianos available at Sonny’s, click HERE.
For further information or to cover this story contact Sonny(at)SonnysPianos(dot)com or call 631-475-8046
Sonny Stancarone, Sonn'ys Piano Enterprises Inc., +1 6314758046, [email protected]
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