D R A W I N G S

made by Grant O'Brien

 

Catalogue of the available full-scale drawings

           

The following is a list of the drawings which I have made over the years and which are now available for sale from me.  They are printed on 80 gsm cartridge paper or

☻New☻ All white mylar drawings are printed on 180gsm heavy film.  Mylar is stable both with changes in humidity and temperature so the dimensions of the drawing will not vary over the time period in which an instrument or stand is made using the drawing.  The prices of these drawing reflects the new improved quality of these drawings!

See the price list and ordering details.

 

Unlike most drawings commercially available either from museums of musical instruments or from private individuals, these drawings are printed very accurately to scale in both length and width to an accuracy of at least 1mm in 1000mm.

 

Click on the image at the left for more information and for a larger view of the image and the drawing.

 

Image

Drawing

Description

See the section on harpsichord-making woods

Drawing 1 - 'French' Ruckers Harpsichord

The drawing is of an aligned extended-compass harpsichord with a compass of G1 to d3 and with both manuals at normal pitch (A415).  The drawing includes the main instrument, lid, case, bridge dimensions, hardware, soundboard thicknesses, keyboards, etc.  Drawings 2 and 3 are included in the price of this drawing.  There is everything you might need here to make an instrument and decorate it!

Drawing of the main instrument:  2320mm long x900mm wide

Drawing of the keyboards:  1252mmx933mm

Soundboard decoration of above

Drawing 2 - 'French' Ruckers Harpsichord Soundboard Decoration

The layout and detail of the soundboard decoration with annotations giving the pigments and colours is given.  The decoration of the rosette wreath is not included on the drawing but a full-sized photo of an original Ruckers wreath is included. 

Drawing dimensions:  2009mmx829mm

Lid, lid flap and front flap decoration

of above for use with Ruckers papers

Drawing 3 - 'French' Ruckers Harpsichord Lid, Lid Flap and Front Flap Decorations

The drawing shows the decoration and Latin mottoes of each section of the lid along with the line decorations, spacings and dimensions.  This decoration is intended for use with Ruckers papers.

Drawing dimensions:  2670mmx806mm

See the section on harpsichord-making woods

Drawing 4 - Ruckers spinett virginal

This is a drawing of the mother part of the mother and child virginal in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan.  This is one of the few surviving spinett virginals (which pluck nearer to the nut like a harpsichord rather than about one-third of the way along the string as the muselar virginals do).

I have attributed this instrument Ioannes Ruckers and dated it to the period around 1599 on stylistic bases as well as from the serial number written on various part of the instrument.

Drawing dimensions:  2540mm long x820mm wide

Drawing 5 - Ruckers spinett virginal soundboard and front flap decoration

The layout and detail of the soundboard decoration and the front flap lettering and decoration of the 1599 Ioannes Ruckers spinett virginal for Drawing 4 above.  The decoration of the rosette wreath is not included on the drawing but a full-sized photo of an original Ruckers virginal wreath is included. 

Drawing dimensions:  1730mm x775mm

Drawn by Andrea di Maio

Drawing 6 - Polygonal virginal by Dominicus Pisaurensis, Venice, c.1565

An unsigned and undated polygonal virginal attributed to Dominicus Pisaurensis, c.1555.  This drawing was made by Andrea di Maio.

Drawing dimensions:  2530mm long x x1030mm wide

Drawing 7 - Flemish harpsichord stand

The 'classic' Flemish harpsichord stand made of rushed and fumed European oak.

Have a look at a photo of this stand.

Drawing dimensions:  1240mmx820mm

Drawing 8 - Flemish table harpsichord stand

A number of Ruckers instruments have stands based on this type of design.  The measurements of a Flemish table made in Antwerp were adapted to design a stand for the 'French' Ruckers double-manual harpsichord listed above. 

Drawing dimensions:  850mmx850mm

Drawing 9 - Flemish virginal stand

This stand is almost identical to the stand under the well-known 1650 Ioannes Couchet muselar virginal in the Vleeshuis Museum, Antwerp with only a few modifications.

Drawing dimensions:  850mmx850mm

Drawing 10 - Venetian harpsichord stand

This is a 'classic' Venetian harpsichord stand.  But it could be used under a harpsichord from anywhere in Italy.  By reducing the dimensions of the legs and feet, a harpsichord bench could be made in the same style as the stand.

Dimensions:  830mmx700mm

See the section on harpsichord-making woods

Drawing 11 - Neapolitan single-manual harpsichord c. 1630

AutoCAD drawing of a single-manual Neapolitan harpsichord with a disposition of 2x8', originally with a compass of C/E to c3 with a split D/F# and E/G#, and later altered to C,D to c3 .  Brass stringing at normal pitch (A415).  All of the original, intermediate and the modern restored states are distinguished in different colours.  There is everything here you need to make a copy of the instrument!

AutoCAD drawing made by Johnny Bell.

Drawing Dimensions:  3000mm long by 850mm wide

 

Prices of the drawings

How to make your payment for the drawings

Buy a signed copy of my book Ruckers.  A harpsichord and virginal building tradition

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