A public piano is a piano in a public place -- such as a restaurant, office or retail shop -- that functions as decorative furniture, not necessarily as a musical instrument.

Tim Reed, owner of 166 Glen, bought the Cable & Sons piano last year at HT Tyrer Galleries auction house up the street, and he hired Gallucci to restore and tune it.

The piano had been through the auction a couple of times, and no one had bid on it.

Based on the serial number, the piano was built in 1925, Gallucci said.

It is a fine instrument, he said.

Robert Cable, a cabinet maker, established the Cable Piano Company in Albany in 1852, according to the web site antiquepianoshop.com. ((( http://antiquepianoshop.com/online-museum/cable-sons/ )))

The name was changed to Cable & Sons when his two sons joined the firm in the mid-1870s.

Pianos with the Cable & Sons brand name were built until around 1936.

Technically, the piano at 166 Glen is for sale.

But Reed bought it primarily as a conversation piece.