A Neapolitan-style Music Desk
This is one of the elaborate music desks that can be ordered with the Neapolitan harpsichords as an additional option. It is based on one of the few surviving original Neapolitan music desks. The original music desk belongs to an antique harpsichord - probably by Onofrio Guarracino - in private ownership in South America.
This desk is made of cypress and ebony. The top and sides are made of a 'sandwich' of two layers of cypress with a thin layer of ebony between them in a manner similar to the keywell scrolls. The top ebony and bone rosette is exactly 1 Neapolitan oncia in diameter. The width and height of the scrolls on the top of the desk are made to be 1 palmo =12 once and 6 once respectively. The width of the central main section of the desk is 13 once, the same as the design scaling of c2 which is the basis of the design of the whole harpsichord.