Harp
ca. 1780 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This harp was made in Paris in about 1780, but the maker and exact date remain unknown. The pedal mechanism is comparatively simple but its sophisticated neoclassical decoration would have made it a suitable instrument for a fashionable Paris salon. When Marie-Antoinette of Austria arrived in France in 1770 as bride to the heir to the French throne, she created a vogue for the harp in Paris, as she herself played this instrument. The most famous harpist of this time was Jean Baptiste Krumpholtz (1742 - 1790), and the most sought after makers were Sébastien Erard (1752 - 1831), Georges Cousineau (1733 - about 1800), and Jean-Henri Naderman (1735-99). By 1784 there were some fifty-eight teachers of the harp in Paris.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | carved giltwood, planed and painted pine |
| Brief description | Harp, carved giltwood, France (Paris), about 1780 |
| Physical description | Harp, carved giltwood, planed and painted pine |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | Given by Mrs E.Richards |
| Object history | This instrument was presented to this museum by Mrs E.Richards of Monmouth in 1871. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This harp was made in Paris in about 1780, but the maker and exact date remain unknown. The pedal mechanism is comparatively simple but its sophisticated neoclassical decoration would have made it a suitable instrument for a fashionable Paris salon. When Marie-Antoinette of Austria arrived in France in 1770 as bride to the heir to the French throne, she created a vogue for the harp in Paris, as she herself played this instrument. The most famous harpist of this time was Jean Baptiste Krumpholtz (1742 - 1790), and the most sought after makers were Sébastien Erard (1752 - 1831), Georges Cousineau (1733 - about 1800), and Jean-Henri Naderman (1735-99). By 1784 there were some fifty-eight teachers of the harp in Paris. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard insturments. (London, 1998), pp. 81 - 82. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 16-1871 |
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| Record created | December 15, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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