About 1709, the piano (an abbreviation of pianoforte) was developed in Florence, Italy. In the mid-1700s, the Italian invention was adapted to the clavichord case, creating the square piano. Pianos were introduced to New York in the 1770s, and by the 1790s, twenty-one instrument-making firms were active in the city. The popularity of the piano during the first half of the 19th century led to the rapid expansion of New York’s instrument-making trade. By the late 1820s, it rivaled shipbuilding, sugar refining, metal working, and furniture making as one of the largest industries in the city. 

Made in New York, this music stool, although not a mate, accompanies the square piano in Bayou Bend (B.57.4). The upholstered circular seat above a pedestal sits on four out-splayed, waterleaf-carved legs with paw feet. In 1810, a group of New York craftsmen published a price book listing the furniture forms they made along with suggested retail prices and included “A Round Music Stool.”