Situated in the front parlor of the Tredwells’ Fourth Street home, the rosewood square pianoforte is arguably the most significant piece of furniture in the room. Music was an important part of social life in the 19th century, and a piano like this one reflected high social standing. Singing, playing the piano, and dancing were also routinely part of the evening whenever friends got together in the parlor. Young women were trained to play the piano as part of a fashionable education, and music was played at both formal and informal social gatherings. Hostesses who had invited guests known to have a particular talent might ask them to bring their music for a formal concert. More often, the parlor performance was an impromptu affair. Manufactured between 1846 and 1848 by the Nunns and Fischer company in New York City, the piano features brass, iron, and steel hardware, ivory and ebony keys, machine-cut moldings, and a floral, cast iron hitch plate. Its foot pedals are supported by a lyre-shaped frame, a popular decorative motif across early-19th century Empire style furniture. The five and a half octave “square” piano was typical of 19th-century domestic pianos. The pianoforte also functions as a harmonium: the player can activate leather bellows, streaming air over a set of internal reeds and producing an organ-like sound, popular for hymns or other religious songs.