Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2011

  • Work on this object began.

2025

2026

  • You found it!

Photograph, Model D rim press

This is a Photograph. It was photographed by Christopher Payne and subject: Steinway and Sons.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Christopher Payne as part of Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.

It is dated 2011. Its medium is digital pigment print. It is a part of the Exhibitions department.


The rim press is where ordinary strips of rock maple wood are transformed into the iconic shape of a piano. In a unique method patented by Steinway in 1880, the inner and outer rims that form the wooden body—as many as seventeen 3/16 in. laminations—are bent as a single, continuous piece.

Its dimensions are

H x W: 61 × 81.3 cm (24 × 32 in.) Not framed

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318812382/ |title=Photograph, Model D rim press |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=8 January 2026 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>