Double chromatic harp
Maker
Henry Greenway
Date1895 ca.
Place MadeBrooklyn, New York, United States, North America
Serial No.none
SignedOn interior of arch, at player’s left, painted in gold and black: H. GREENWAY/ INVENTOR & / MANUFACTURER / 545 ATLANTIC ST. / BROOKLYN, N.Y. / The
Chromatic Harp
Very darkened label, opposite signature: Chromatic / HARP / H. GREENWAY /
Inventor and Sole Maker
DescriptionBirdseye-maple resonator and columns
Columns cross at center, x-like
Decorative, gilded gesso ornamentation at tops, bottoms and center of columns, featuring roses, 5-petal flowers and leaves.
A shield is centrally located feature at the crossing point of the two columns
Interior of neck arch and central section of flat surface of soundboard is painted with gold
scrolling, highlighted with black paint.
Sound holes (8) in 3-sided back of resonator
No pedals
The 2 necks are reinforced with metal
Seventy-four strings; forty-three on neck to player's left; thirty-one on neck to player's right (FF-f4), grouped like the piano’s black keys
Note: compare with Greenway harp at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which has quite a different resonator configuration, different gesso ornamentation, and different number of strings. Also, it has an attached nameplate, whereas this harp does not.
DimensionsTaken by Missy Mayfield and Herbert Heyde, 6/4/1994:
Overall height: 65 3/16”
Depth from front of pillar to back of knee-block: 35”
Extreme width of soundboard: 23¼”
Length of longest string: 56”
Published ReferencesLaurence Libin, American Musical Instruments in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985), pp. 137, 139.
"1994 Acquisitions Include Rare Pianos, Harp, Woodwinds," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter, Vol. XXII, no. 2 (January 1995), p. 2.
André P. Larson, "Double Chromatic Harp by Henry Greenway," South Dakota Musician, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Spring 1995), p. 28.
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of Carole and Bruce Stavens, 1994
Object number05728
On View
Not on view1850-1890 ca.
