Harp-lute, painted and gilded, English, about 1815.

"Body construction similar to 13/8 [harp-lute, Museum no. 37-1827: i.e. 'body of seven ribs, with two sound slots in the centre rib']. The belly has a star-shaped rose and a pin bridge. A small fingerboard on the belly is for three strings, with seven frets. The main fingerboard is for three strings, with nine frets. The harmonic curve carries eight strings of which nos. 5, 6 and seven can be raised a semitone by brass ring-stops as in 13/8, while nos 1 and 4 are raised by movable nuts activated by sprung levers. The total number of strings is fourteen" Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 68.

Because the woods, except for the ebony fingerboards, are painted and gilded, they are unidentifiable. Pine was the wood most commonly used for the soundboard and sycamore for the back and sides.

This was part of the collections of Carl Engel (1818-1882) and was bought by this museum in 1882 for £2

The harp-lute was a small harp with one or more fretted fingerboards, that extended the range of treble notes. Better suited to drawing-rooms than concert-halls, these were made fashionable by Edward Light (c. 1747 - 1832), who invented a number of harp-variants and taught music to Princess Charlotte (1796 - 1817), the only child of the Prince Regent. This unsigned and undated instrument is fitted with hand-operated 'ring-stops', which raise the bass strings by a semi-tone. It is also fitted with a stud at the bottom, which enabled the musician to use a shoulder-strap and play it like a guitar.

252-1882