a new Venetian swell...

Huw does not usually work on square pianos but in the light of his experience with Venetian swells on harpsichords Alec Cobbe felt he was the ideal person for this task. This piano was probably one of Southwell's earliest 5 ½ octave ones as the lid (assuming it is the original one) was clearly designed for a 5 octave instrument with the usual section at the front over the soundboard designed to be lifted by a knee lever. With the half octave treble extension that was no longer possible so it was provided with a Venetian swell instead and over the years that has been lost. Some screw holes from the original hinges remain as well as a hole through the soundboard for the connecting rod, and also the knee lever. The Venetian swell on another Southwell square was examined and the new one was based on that. It would also have had a baffle or mask (or dust cover) to cover the area to the left of the swell above the action so that with the swell closed the sound would be very distinctly muted. This has also been lost and until an original can be found on which to base a new one, a simple piece of plywood has been cut to fill this space. The original would probably have been a framed mahogany panel cut away at the front to accommodate the music desk.