Over the years there have been many accessories produced for the piano. We’ve seen automatic page-turners (for sheet music), gloves with weighted fingers (to increase finger strength), hydraulic piano lid lifters, etc., but the weirdest of them all is most definitely the piano baby.
Four Heubach Piano Babies. Photo: Neal Auction Company.
At the end of the 19th century, your piano was your pride and joy, and to keep it dust-free one would cover the instrument with a shawl or large piece of material. And, to hold this cloth-covering in place, a large porcelain baby was used. Strange, but true.
German Origins
These figurines are typically 8-15 inches high, and, originally, mostly made in Germany. They can be found in all manner of poses. Annette Hahn’s Pinterest site features a wide range of examples.
Piano babies remained popular up until the First World War. Nevertheless, Japan started manufacturing reproductions in the 1950s, and they enjoyed a resurgence amongst collectors in the 1980/90s.
Most piano babies are made from bisque, which has a matt surface, and is also known as ‘biscuit porcelain’. The most famous manufacturer, and probably the best, was Gebrüder Heubach (Lichten, Germany), and it was the recent listing of several of their babies on the Neal Auction Company’s website that prompted this piece. The Heubach babies have particularly expressive faces with a degree of realism that other makers found hard to match.
There are two lots available in their Summer Auction (July 8th and 9th) both consisting of four babies. The guide price is $400/$600. For more information visit the Neal Auction Company’s website.
Why?
Why was a baby considered the figure of choice for this application, rather than an animal or even a vase? I’ve absolutely no idea – can anyone shed some light?
See also… A Brief History of Piano Insulators
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Neat write-up! Thanks for sharing.
As far as why they chose a bisque baby doll for securing piano shaws, my opinion would be that because bisque dolls were so prevelant and popular for children during that time, it would make sense to use one on the piano.
If children were learning the piano, that would give even more reason to have “their” doll as a piano piece used to secure the shaw.
Not doing any previous searching on the matter I just use my knowledge of that time period. Materials must have been prevalent enough to make dolls for many children and Heubach was no exception as they made many different types of dolls during the 19th century using bisque for the head. They saw a way to capitalize (possibly the idea was brought out by a lesser known company) on the use of these all bisque baby dolls and became one of the most well known for them.
I agree the quality is remarkable and it stands above many because of the realist effects used in the mold and painting of features.
Again, thanks! I may have to do some research when I find time just to see if I can find out for sure 🙂
Hi, I have a boy and girl 12 in tall piano babies. The bottom just says registered 6161. I see 6162s but cannot find finds with 6161. Could someone tell me the difference between the registered numbers. I believe they might be early 1900s by Andrea by Sadek. Please help me. Thank you
I have a piano baby 3 inches tall sitting on a potty.
I would like to know more about it.
Came from my great grandmother 1880s. Maybe