Anonymous Neapolitan harpsichord sold by Grant O'Brien to the Markiezenhof Museum, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands.
In April of 1991 I was fortunate
enough to be able to buy an historical Italian harpsichord from a private owner
in Brussels. A photograph of this
instrument with some details of its original case and lid painting can be seen
by clicking on the image below.
Since
buying this instrument I have examined it closely and made a detailed report on
its condition, history, and provenance. See, for example,
Determination of
the centre of construction of this harpsichord
-
67Kb. As with all keyboard instruments, there is a number
of
factors that has to be taken into consideration before the decision is made to
restore it.
I have considered its possible restoration
and have decided that:
-
the case of the instrument is sufficiently robust to be restored back to playing condition without danger of twisting or distortion.
-
the instrument has been restored and re-restored many times in the past.
-
none of the original ephemera has survived these many restorations, and would therefore not be destroyed in another modern restoration.
-
the wrestplank has been riddled with woodworm and has a structure that resembles a sponge rather than a solid piece of walnut. It is now insufficiently strong to withstand string tension. The nut is not original, but the positions of the original and eighteenth-century nuts are clearly visible on the top surface of the old wrestplank and these positions can be transferred to the new wrestplank. A new nut would have to be made using the bridge as a model.
-
the advantages of restoration greatly outweigh the small amount of information that would be lost in a restoration to playing condition.
The instrument has been restored and
sold to the
Markiezenhof Museum,
Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands. As explained
in the details given with the link to the image above, the original case and
lid painting have disappeared. I have
since had a new case built and this case was painted in 2000 by
Stefano
Pessione and given a new lid painting.
This painting and some details about it can be obtained by clicking on
the image below:
Work by me using the unit of measurement used in the design and construction of the instrument has shown that it was made in Naples. Further details about this work can be obtained by clicking on the link below:
Determination of
the centre of construction of this harpsichord (67 Kb)
The discovery that this
instrument was made in Naples, and the need to study other instruments also
made in Naples as part of the background work necessary prior to the
restoration of the instrument has further stimulated my interest in Neapolitan
harpsichords.
This instrument has been sold to the Markiezenhof Museum, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands as a restored and playing harpsichord.
The instrument is now in the period room on the first floor of the Markiezenhof Museum. You can also see a 360º view of this room on the Markiezenhof website.
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