Founded in 1831, Boisselot & Fils became in the 1840s one of the most important piano manufacturing companies in France, so much so that it earned the title of royal piano maker (Facteur du Roi) and acquired European fame, matching even the famous Parisian companies Érard and Pleyel. The company started out by producing square pianos, expanding production to include grand pianos since 1834 and upright (vertical) pianos since 1835. At the time, it employed 70 workers to produce 100 pianos a year.
After 1848, with more than 200 workers in its Marseilles and Barcelona factories, the excellent workmanship of its grand pianos earned Boisselot a first-class medal at the International Exhibition (Exposition Universelle) of 1855, where the company showed its products both in the French and in the Spanish pavilions.