Harpsichord
Date1675-1725 ca.
Place MadeItaly, Europe
Model
Serial No.none
SignedOn the nameboard: Giuseppe Oreibla Fece / in Sinigalia nell’anno 1774.(Note: the nameboard may be from a later instrument.)
DescriptionThis harpsichord may have been made during the late 17th century. Although the rococo decoration was likely added in the 18th century, the lid painting may be original.
Range: C/E-c3 (45 notes)
One manual with three 8' registers. The jacks are not original, although the present order of the jacks, and possibly their plucking directions may be original. There are no levers for turning the registers off.
Three registers:
1. Front 8’ quill. Plectra pointing right.
2. Middle 8’ quill. Plectra pointing left. This register has its own nut, similar to a 4’ nut, but shares the 8’ bridge with the other two 8’ choirs. Therefore the jacks of this register operate at a lower level than the other registers; a necessity with three 8’ choirs.
3. Back 8’ quill. Plectra pointing left.
Naturals and arcade keyfronts of boxwood, sharps of black-stained hardwood.
False inner-outer type case.
DimensionsLength of case: 75 ¾” (192.5 cm)
Width of case: 28 ¼” (71.8 cm)
Depth of case: 7 ½” (19 cm)
Height from floor to top of lid: 38” (96.5 cm)
Overall dimensions: 29” x 79”
String length: c2 = 11 ¼” (28.6 cm)
ProvenancePurchased in 1985 from Dr. Robert Grenell, Baltimore, Maryland. Grenell purchased the harpsichord from Jackson’s Pianos and Organs, Rockford, Illinois, ca. 1977.
Published ReferencesBoalch, Donald H. Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840. Third edition, edited by Charles Mould (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995), p. 518.
Kuronen, Darcy. "Keyboard Instruments at The Shrine to Music Museum," Early Keyboard Studies Newsletter 6, No. 1 (October 1991), p. 7.
Larson, André P. The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion:
National Music Museum, 1988), pp. 19 and 45.
Credit LineRawlins Fund, 1985
Object number03870
On View
Not on view
1625-1675 ca.
