200-year-old piano restored by Smithsonian may be junked if it doesn’t find new home

200-year-old piano restored by Smithsonian may be junked if it doesn’t find new home. Hand-carved and built just after the Civil War, Joan Bennett said this piano is more than an instrument - it’s a piece of history. But she said experts could only trace it back to the 1860s. The next 100 years? A mystery… until… “In the 70s when we lived in Washington DC, I bought it. It was painted, and it didn’t play,” Bennett said. So, Bennett said she had a woodworker strip it back to its natural finish. Then came the tough part of getting the inside working again.