Harpsichord
Burkat Shudi (1702 - 1773)
Category
Musical instruments, devices and recordings
Date
1741
Materials
Mahogany, sycamore, metal, leather, textile.
Measurements
290 x 950 mm; 2290 mm (L); 920 mm (Height)
Place of origin
London
Collection
Calke Abbey, Derbyshire
NT 290036
Summary
Harpsichord, Burkat Shudi, London, 1741. Inscribed on the name-batten, Burkat Shudi No116 Fecit Londini 1741. Signed in pencil, on underside of soundboard: Burkhardt Tschudi / No 104 Stück? 1740. Oak carcase, veneered (except for the spine) and cross-banded in mahogany. A band of ‘seaweed’ patterned marquetry extends across the fascia and returns along the spine and cheekpiece sides of the keywell; marquetried panels of simpler, almost crude design alternate with others of plain mahogany around the inner rim, itself veneered in mahogany; mahogany facing to wrestplank; solid mahogany lid and lid cleats; chased decoration on the (early pattern) original lid hook (the two 1988 copies plain), the rosettes similarly worked; the two longer cross-garnet hinges copied (1988, without surface decoration) from the surviving, chased original at the tail; the shape of the present lid flap hinges inferred (1988) from the outlines left on the cleats by the lost originals; the lower stretcher, bottom rail of the tail frame and one, wooden-castered cabriole leg are original and of stained beech; the missing components of the stand were supplied (1988) in walnut; the original foreboard lost, the present one a (1988) replacement. Compass FF, GG - f3, (no FF#) Two 8' registers: proximal plucks <, distal >. Later pedal operated a 'diminuendo' stop.
Provenance
Calke Abbey and contents transferred to the National Trust by the Treasury in lieu of CTT in 1985 with an endowment provided by the NHMF.
Marks and inscriptions
116 (inscribed in pencil on reverse of nameboard)
Makers and roles
Burkat Shudi (1702 - 1773) , harpsichord maker