Harp
Sebastien Erard (1752 - 1831)
Category
Musical instruments, devices and recordings
Date
circa 1817
Materials
Giltwood, gesso, lacquered wood, ormolu, brass, and gut, gilders composition
Measurements
1700 x 1005 x 565 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 608942
Summary
A double-action 'Grecian' harp with shaped gilded gesso and black lacquer frame, fluted giltwood columnar upright with gilded Renaissance motifs, stylised figures and ormolu foliage mounts, on paw and shell feet. Neo-classical ornamental elements of ‘compo’ and gesso gilt. 43 note compass EE-e4, two pedal operated fourchettes to each string to raise its pitch either by a semitone or a tone. The top note has no mechanism. Eight pedals, seven with two-positions operating the fourchettes of the double action, and one the swell shutters, which have been removed.('Grecian' No.2348). Manufactured by by Sébastien Erard (1752-1831) circa 1817.
Provenance
Transferred from Arlington Court in Devon as it is very similar to the original harp purchased from Erard in 1818 by 2nd Lord Berwick for his wife, Sophia (née Dubochet). A bill dated 1818 from Sébastien Erard to Lord Berwick records the purchase of a 'patent double movement harp elegantly ornamented' for the sum of £168. Sophia, 2nd Lady Berwick, was having harp lessons at the time from the fashionable musician and harp teacher from France, Robert Nicolas-Charles Bochsa.
Marks and inscriptions
Maker to HRH the Princess Charlotte of Wales, His most Christian Majesty the King of France and HIM the Emperor of all the Russias (engraved)
Makers and roles
Sebastien Erard (1752 - 1831), maker