Other
William Humphrey Dayas
Royal Manchester College Of Music (RMCM)
1880

This is a dummy piano made in the late nineteenth century. Dummy pianos were used by students and professionals wishing to practice technique, and are small so that they can be easily stored and transported. Inside is often a mechanism used to adjust the stiffness of the keys so they could be easier or harder to press down.
This particular dummy piano was owned by William Humphrey Dayas, a pupil of Franz Liszt and the principal piano tutor at the Royal Manchester College of Music when Charles Hallé died in 1895. He kept this role until he died in 1903.