WHY ARE MISSION/ARTS & CRAFTS PIANOS SO RARE?

Over the years, we have literally seen thousands of pianos come through our restoration shop.  Of those thousands, we estimate that less than 5% of those pianos were of Arts & Crafts design.  Although the Arts & Crafts design was very popular during the early 20th Century, piano makers were slow to adapt to the changing tastes of the American public.

   Weber Victorian Upright, Circa 1875               Krakauer Mission Upright, Circa 1912

In the last decade of the 19th Century, a change from the highly elaborate Victorian style was in the air.  People were rediscovering the beauty of simplicity.  Although furniture manufactueres were quick to jump on the new trend of the Craftsman style, piano makers were slow to recognize just how important the Arts & Crafts movment really was. 

Because of their high cost, Arts & Crafts style pianos were not affordable to the average household. By the Great Depression, piano manufacturers had turned all of their efforts toward producing the tiny modern spinet piano, and upright piano production had stopped completely. Sadly, very few manufacturers ever offered Arts & Crafts designs in their sales brochures, and as a result, original specimens are exceedingly rare today.