The maker of this pianoforte, Lovering Ricketts, was one of more than twenty pianoforte makers working in Baltimore in the first four decades of the nineteenth century. We can ssume that he made or supervised the construction of his piano cases. This rectangular case with canted front corners is veneered with choice grained mahogany and highlighted with panels of maple veneer in the manner typical of Baltimore Empire-style furniture. Bird's-eye maple is used along the lower case front and above the keyboard, and a strip of tiger maple veneer is under the keyboard. The two complex applied ormolu strip moldings that extend around three sides of the lower case are unusual in Baltimore furniture of the period. The pianoforte is supported at each end by heavy saber-legged pedestal supports, whose fine carving avoids the overstatement common to much design of this period. Gilt brass molding and roundels, brass feet and casters; ivory and ebony keys