If I recall correctly, piano black came into vogue during the reign of Napoleon III in the 19th century, when everything had to become black, from furniture to old gilded candlesticks. . . and of course pianos. Furniture was discarded, candlestick got eventually scraped to reveal their original gilding, but those black pianos. . . were passed along reverentially from generation to generation in well-to-do households until. . . the North American babyboomer generation started to become financially comfortable and fell in love with the slightly funereal beauty of gleaming black pianos and with similarly attired gleaming black Italian furniture, expressly created just for them.
What's up with the 'Piano' gloss????
Forgive me if I'm just totally ignorant as to the inner workings of style. But why in the world has this super high gloss finish come to symbolize higher quality? I'm a wood worker, furniture builder, and a man who enjoys the joys of higher fidelity and I can't for the life of me imagine why anyone would want some crazy, super-shiny, impossible to keep finish in their listening rooms, much less their home. Am I alone? Please say it ain't so. That is all.