Spitzharfe
Alternate name(s)
- Zither
- Arpanetta
- Psaltery
Maker
Johan Karp
Date1709
Place MadeCopenhagen, Denmark, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedHand-written in ink on paper label glued to the bottom: Johan Karp. / [i]n Copen hagen / Anno 1709
Markingsnone
DescriptionThe spitzharfe or arpanetta is a type of zither placed on a table and played vertically like a harp. It was popular in the late seventeenth century. This Danish example is beautifully decorated and painted, much like a harpsichord soundboard.
Typical upright wing shape with spruce soundboard on both sides
Bass (left) side, 25 single strings, compass c, d, e and chromatic to c”, d”, e”
Right side, 35 double courses, compass g, a, b♮ and chromatic to f’”, g’”, a’”
On both sides, the strings for the accidentals pass through slits in the nuts and bridges so that they are at a level closer to the soundboard than the naturals.
The note names and string-gauge numbers are written in ink on strips of paper glued to the upper surfaces of the nuts. Since an apparently older, perhaps original, set of string-gauge numbers is written on the surface of the soundboard below each nut, these strips of paper presumably stem from later in the eighteenth century, probably when the bridges and nuts were reglued and painted black.
Layered, pierced, and gilded geometrical parchment rose in each soundboard
Painted decoration on soundboards
Chinoiserie on case exterior walls
Carved lion’s head at the top
Each soundboard is reinforced by five ribs placed perpendicular to the spine. The ends of the treble soundboard ribs are supported by small blacks glued to the spine, while the ends of the bass soundboard ribs are unsupported. The ribs appear to extend all the way to teh cheek piece and bent side. No interior framing is evident.
DimensionsTotal height, including feet and lion’s head: 926 mm
Length of spine: 815 mm
Depth: 60-61 mm at top, 42.5 mm at bottom
Width: 273 mm
Width excluding moldings: 260 mm
Diameter bass soundhole: 70 mm
Diameter treble soundhole: 61 mm
String lengths, bass side: e'' = 168 mm, c'' = 21 mm, c' = 432 mm, c = 772
String lengths, treble side: a''' = 83 mm, c''' = 138 mm, c'' = 263 mm, c' = 504 mm, g = 507 mm
Published ReferencesJohn Koster, "A Unique Danish Spitzharfe By Johan Karp, 1709, and a Rare Portugese Harpsichord by José Calisto, 1780," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 26, No. 3 (August 1999), pp. 4-5.
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of Margaret Ann and Hubert H. Everist, 1999
Object number06177
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