Anonymous Neapolitan harpsichord sold 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 have 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.
I am therefore in the process of
restoring this instrument. 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:
Recent work by me has shown that this instrument 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.
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