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How did white and black piano keys become standardized around 1800?

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The standardization of white and black piano keys around 1800 was not a sudden technical requirement, but rather a gradual evolution driven by prevailing fashion and the relative costs of materials.1

Before this period, the color and material of keys varied significantly by region and tradition. For instance, Flemish instruments used bone for naturals and oak for sharps as early as 1580, while French and German makers typically utilized ebony or fruitwood for naturals and bone or ivory for sharps until the 1790s.1

The eventual adoption of white for natural keys and black for sharps became consistent by about 1800, reflecting the availability and aesthetic preference for materials such as:

White keys (naturals): Bone or ivory.12
Black keys (sharps): Stained hardwood or ebony.1

This standardization helped define the modern appearance of the keyboard, where white keys represent diatonic notes and black keys represent their respective sharps and flats. In the 20th century, these traditional materials were largely replaced by plastics and other synthetic alternatives.32