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Cabinet Organ

ca. 1600 (made)
Artist/Maker
Unknown
Place of origin
Augsburg (made)

Keyboard instruments from Augsburg were sometimes built to resemble ornate caskets or to be hidden in cabinets, like this organ, where drawers are placed above and beside the keyboard, and the works are concealed in the plinth. This instrument may well have formed part of a cabinet of curiosities, where collections of outstanding natural and man-made objects were housed. The case of the instrument is inlaid with scenes made up of ancient ruins. These had been made popular by the engravings of Hyeronymus Cock of Antwerp (about 1510-1570) and were widely used by cabinet makers from Augsburg from about 1560 until 1600.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Musical Instruments
SCRAN
Furniture
Containers
Medieval and Renaissance
Object type
Cabinet organ
Parts
This object consists of 43 parts.

  • Cabinet Organ
  • Key
  • Rail
  • Panel With Marquetry of Ruins Flanking Bosses
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer
  • Drawer With 3 Square and One Wide Compartment
Materials and techniques
Pine carcase, with marquetry of various woods
Pine
Bog Oak
Holly
Boxwood
Joining
Marquetry
Brief description
Cabinet organ, pine with marquetry of various woods, and key, Augsburg, Germany, ca. 1600
Physical description
Cabinet and chamber organ combined, the outside (including top and back) and inside decorated with architectural and geometrical designs in marquetry of various coloured woods, and some painted imitations of marquetry. The upper part containing three sections with drawers and a keyboard is inclosed by a pair of hinged, folding doors. The lower part presents two horizontal tiers divided by an ebonised moulding; the central section of the upper tier front hinges down. The whole rests on four, spirally grooved ebonised legs. At thje front, right a metal pedal extends below the lower part.

Internal arrangment of drawers: two cupboards (each with 9 stepped drawers of various sizes) flank a central nest of 25(?) drawers of various sizes above the keyboard.
Dimensions
  • Height: 129.5cm (Note: Measured NH 30/11/2023 Cabinet (upper part) HWD: 55 x 107.5 x 53.5cm Mid-section (with organ workings): HWD: 21 x 112.5 x 58.5cm Lower section (with bellows): 74.5 [incl. legs, 25cm] x 112.5 x 58.5cm)
  • Width: 112.5cm
  • Depth: 58.5cm
  • Weight: 122kg (Note: Weighed by TS Jan 2024)
Production typeUnique
Gallery label
CABINET ORGAN South German, about 1610 Various woods on pine carcase. The naturals are covered with bone and the sharps stained fruitwood. The instrument's range is forty-one notes, E -g2, a2 (missing g2 sharp). Keyboard Catalogue No.: 12. The upper half is in the form of a cabinet, with decoration characteristic of Southern German marquetry furniture from about 1550 until 1600. The pipes are concealed in the lower half and a pedal is just visible underneath. 216-1879(1/1/1992)
Object history
Bought from J.C.Robinson (after his employment as ‘superintendent of the art collection’ was terminated) as part of a block purchase (mus. nos. 132 to 220-1879 for £6,800); attributed as 'Spanish, about 1560'.

It is not known how Robinson obtained the organ which may have been restored in the 19th century in England. It might be speculated that it could correspond to another 17th century German organ with marquetry, which was lent in 1872 to the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments at the South Kensington Museum, by its owner Charles Augustus Howell. Howell - who for a while was Ruskin's secretary - was a well-connected and successful dealer but in various respects had an unsavoury reputation. (Science and Art Department: Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments with illustrations (London, 1872), no. 420 (p.31) lists 'ORGAN. GERMAN, 17th century. Inlaid with designs in various coloured woods. Lent by Mr Charles Augustus Howell')

Accession register vol 78 p251 (Central Inventory MA/30/112).

Display History (from museum Findings Lists):
July 1927: Rm 45, case W 236
1963: M. Rm
1968-2010: gallery 40A (Musical Instruments Gallery)
2010-2025: Blythe House and SK stores.
Conserved: 2023

Photographed in 1909 and 1965. The organ parts were photographed in 1980. In 1981 a measured drawing and report of the instrument was produced by Martin Goetze and Dominic Gwynn, V&A: E.786-2008 and E.787-2008.

Historical context
Other south German keyboard instruments combined with marquetry cases are cited in MÖLLER, Lieselotte, Der Wrangelschrank und die verwandten süddeitschen intarsienmöbel des 16. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1956), nos. 53, 54

-Cabinet with virginal, Tirol c1580-90 (lBayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, inv. R 1069); see also Bettina Wackernagel, Musikinstrumente des 16. Bis 18. Jahrhunderts im Bayerischen Nationalmuseum 1999, pp.23-26

-Cabinet with room organ (Hausorgel), Tirol 1590-1600 (Landesmuseum Württemberg, inv. G 29,143; prev. Saltzer coll., Vienna, sold by Wawra 1927);
published in Völkl, Helmut Rudolf; Rehfeldt, Wolfram; Rehm, Gerhard (1986): Orgeln in Württemberg Neuhausen-Stuttgart, S. 34
Subject depicted
Roman Ruins
Summary
Keyboard instruments from Augsburg were sometimes built to resemble ornate caskets or to be hidden in cabinets, like this organ, where drawers are placed above and beside the keyboard, and the works are concealed in the plinth. This instrument may well have formed part of a cabinet of curiosities, where collections of outstanding natural and man-made objects were housed. The case of the instrument is inlaid with scenes made up of ancient ruins. These had been made popular by the engravings of Hyeronymus Cock of Antwerp (about 1510-1570) and were widely used by cabinet makers from Augsburg from about 1560 until 1600.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • MÖLLER, Lieselotte; Der Wrangelschrank und die verwandten süddeitschen intarsienmöbel des 16. Jahrhunderts (Berlin, 1956), cat. no. 70
  • SCHOTT, Howard; Baines; Anthony; Yorke, James: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part I: Keyboard instruments by Howard Schott. Part II: Non-keyboard instruments by Anthony Baines. [Reprint 20012 of single volume catalogue with additional information]. (London, V&A Publications, 1998), p. 48. Cabinet Organ, South German, early seventeenth century. 1. The instrument is unsigned. 2. The keyboard compass is of forty-one notes, E'-g2, a2, without a bass short octave (that is, chromatic from E), and lacking g2 sharp. The standard measurement is 474mm. The bone-covered naturals measure 94mm long, with key-heads of 31 mm, and 22mm wide. The naturals have key-fronts decorated with interlaced arcading. The sharp, of ebonized fruitwood and strongly bevelled, measure 59-62mm long by 9.5 -12.5mm wide. 3. The conjectural specification is as follows: Stopped wood 4-foot Stopped wood 2-foot Open wood and metal 1-foot Open metal 1/2-foot in bass and 1 1/3-foot in treble Regal metal (cast from low tin alloy) 8-foot All register draw in halves divided at b/c' by means of sliders with small lead handles concealed behind small hinged panels on the left and right-hand sides of the cabinet. The wind supply is provided by a single-rise reservoir and feeder operated by a foot-pedal at the right-hand side. 4. The upper part of the cabinet, dating from the late sixteenth century, is decorated in characteristic South German style with marquetry in various woods veneered on a carcase of pine. The lowewr part of the cabinet is cleverly painted in imitation of the marquetry work of the upper part. The lower part of the cabinet, containing the soundboards and pipework of the organ in a very compact arrangement, was made when the organ was built some time in the seventeenth century. A grooved panel immediately below the key-board gives access to the regal pipes, which stand at the front on the pipe work to facilitate returning which is required more frequently for these reeds than for flue pipes. A hinged panel at the rear gives access to the remainder of the pipework , all of which is placed horizontally. The cabinet measures 1295mm high, 1125mm wide and 585mm deep. 5. The cabinet organ was purchased in 1879 at an unspecified price from the Robinson Collection.
  • South Kensington Museum, John Charles Robinson, J. C Robinson, and R. Clay, Sons and Taylor. 1881. Catalogue of the Special Loan Exhibition of Spanish and Portuguese Ornamental Art: South Kensington Museum, 1881. London: Chapman & Hall, p.122
  • James Yorke, Keyboard Instruments at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, 1986), no. 23, p.46 23 Cabinet organ South German, early seventeenth century Museum No. 216-1879 The upper part of the cabinet dates from the late sixteenth century, being decorated in marquetry on a pine carcase. The lower part, which contains the playing mechanism, was built in the early seventeenth century and painted with imitation marquetry to match the upper part. The bellows are worked by a pedal by the front right-hand leg. The keyboard, whose design is derived from Praetorius (1619), has a compass of forty-one notes, E-g2, a2.
  • Raymond Russell, Catalogue of Musical Instruments. No. I. Keyboard Instruments. Appendix A Catalogue of Pianos and Organs by Austin Niland (London, V & A, 1968), no. 45 (p.67), and fig. 40 ('Cabinet organ, South German. The cabinet, with its intricate marquetry decoration, dates from the late sixteenth century. An organ was then fitted into this cabinet ; the lower tier and legs were added at this time - during the third quarter of the seventeenth century.') '45 CABINET ORGAN, South German, cabinet case of the late sixteenth century adapted to contain an organ, probably during the third quarter of the seventeenth century. Fig. 40. The upper. and older part of the cabinet is decorated with marquetry in various woods. The lower part of this contains the soundboards and the pipework of the organ, very compactly arranged. The regal pipes stand in the front of the case, imme­diately below the keyboard, where a hinged panel provides easy access for tuning. The bellows are contained in the base of the cabinet. This was evidently added when the conversion took place, and is cleverly painted in imitation of the older marquetry work above .. The compass of the instrument was probably determined by the space available in the cabinet recess. The keys have ivory naturals and ebony sharps, the fronts of the former being decorated with interlaced arcading. Specification (stop names conjectural): Gedact 8 ft stopped wood Gedactfkite 4 ft stopped wood Principal 2 ft open wood and metal Quint 1 1/3 ft open metal Regal 8 ft metal Compass: apparently C (bass short octave) to a2 (no top g sharp), 41 notes. All registers draw in halves by means of sliders with small leaden handles concealed behind small hinged panels on the left- and right-hand sides of the cabinet. Dimensions: H. 51 in (129·5 cm), W. 44¼ in (112·5 cm), D. 23 in (58·5 cm). Museum No.: 216-1879. Note: Some other small keyboard instruments built into cabinets of this kind are known. Russell illustrates a spinet (Fig. 8 1 3 ). An organ built into a cabinet, with the bellows on top, is illustrated by Lise Lotte M0ller, Das Wrangelschrank ... , Berlin, 1950.'
Collection
Furniture and Woodwork Collection
Accession number
216:1, 2-1879

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Record createdMay 16, 2001
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58985/cabinet-organ-unknown/
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