German Clavichord
In beautifully inlaid case which is newer (1730?). From Germany, rectangular, elongated box. It is a keyboard of which the tones are produced by slender upright blades of brass called "tangents", flattened at the top where they make contact with the strings. The earliest record goes back to 1404 when it was mentioned in "Rules of the Minnesingers" by Eberhard Cersne. The oldest existing specimen is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York and is dated 1537 (RDM 6.3.65)
Mr Adler secured this instrument because the owner, who had resisted all offers had died and his widow was willing to sell. Four-octave keyboard with ebony naturals and ivory accidentals, the front of each key delicately carved. These instruments were mainly made privately by craftsmen who seldom put their names on their work. Three-and-a-half foot oak case. Experts estimate age as middle of 17th century. Mostly used by women, and has little box at the side where it was customary for ladies to keep perfume or hairpins or other feminine accessories.(RDM 5.4.61)
The clavichord supposedly dated 1537 is no longer in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. It was a forgery produced by the notorious Florentine forger Leopoldo Franciolini some time before 1900, and the Met sold it at Phillips auction on 14 May 1987. A similar forgery is in the Copenhagen Music Museum.
ReplyDeleteThe oldest surviving signed and dated clavichord is thought to be the one by Dominicus Pisaurensis of Venice, dated 1543, in the Grassi Museum, Leipzig, Germany.