The date of a piano can be approximately determined by its legs. The earliest pianos had four slender legs similar to the legs of the spinet or harpsichord. The next instruments had six legs, increased in size and fluted or carved. Then the number was reduced to four, and the legs were still larger, and more elaborately carved, until 1840 the ugly legs found commonly upon the square piano were the only styles employed. [Illustration: Illus. 285.—Clementi Piano, 1805.] Illustration 285 is a fine example of an early pianoforte. Like the spinet and clavichord, the body of the instrument is separate from the lower frame, which is fastened together at the corners with large screws like a bedstead. This may have been for convenience in transportation, and it is possible that while the top containing the works was imported, the supporting frame may have been made in this country. There are four slender inlaid legs, and one pedal, and under the body of the piano runs a most convenient shelf for music. The case is of mahogany, with rows of fine inlaying in colors, having two rows of different width around the top of the lid. The board above the keys is of satinwood, and it has, beside the delicate frets at each side, charmingly painted garlands of sweet peas, a flower very popular in England at that time, about 1805. The name plate has the inscription “Muzio Clementi & Co., Cheapside, London,” and the number of the piano is 3653. It measures sixty-seven inches in length, and has a compass of five and one-half octaves. There is a line of inlaying around the inside of this piano, which is finished carefully in every detail. The music-rack is of simple form like the rack in Illustration 286. The music may also rest, as in the illustration, upon the edge of the lid, when put back. This piano is owned by the writer, who bought it in Falmouth, Massachusetts. It was said to be the first piano brought into Falmouth, or upon the “Cape,” and in looking at this dainty instrument, which had never left the room in which it found its home, a hundred years ago, one can imagine the wonder and envy of the little seaport village when a whaling captain, after a successful voyage, gave the piano to his daughter. Nothing could sound more quaint than a Gluck or Mozart minuet played upon its tinkling keys. The founder of the Astor family about 1790 to 1800 made one branch of his business the importing of pianos, which were labelled with his name and which are quite commonly met with. Illustration 286 shows an Astor piano owned by Mrs. Sanford Tappan of Newburyport. The style of this piano is similar to that of the “Clementi” in Illustration 285, but it lacks the delicate ornamentation of the Clementi piano. In the _Columbian Centinel_ of 1806 is an advertisement with a woodcut of an instrument very like this. [Illustration: Illus. 286.—Astor Piano, 1790-1800.]