Dimitrios collaborated with Steinway & Sons for over a year to recreate the 1902 Doheny Steinway Piano. The most famous piano manufacturer in the world is Steinway and Sons, so when the private client was deciding on commissioning a very special piano for their 400 foot yacht, this was their first and only stop. More specifically, the client’s interior designer had seen an image of a famous Steinway piano, built in 1902 for oil magnate E. L. Doheny as a gift for his wife. It was this piano which was to be virtually reproduced, saving only personalization of the painted images that decorated the piano case and lid. Dimitrios Klitsas was hired to reproduce the voluminous carved work seen in these images. The case was built by Steinway in New York and shipped by them to our Massachusetts shop, where all the carving was done. The carved detail is prodigious and required significant drafting and layout in order to faithfully reproduce. The legs are carved out of walnut and the balance of the case out of mahogany. Our carving work alone took over a year and a half to complete. When the piano was finally assembled at Steinway’s shop, it’s exterior was gilded with 22 carat gold leaf and then decorated, over the gilding. Only remaining was to equip the piano with Steinway’s own player piano system and to bolt it down to the cabin deck, in case of rough seas.
Click here to see the piano featured in the television series "Making It Here" from WGBY, public television for Western New England.
