Organ case, carved mahogany after design by Chippendale

Front of an organ case of carved mahogany. The top section is now a replica reproduction with gilded wooden organ pipes. At the apex of the 'pipe front' is a composition of putti and a goddess seated on clouds and supporting a wreath; the figures are carved in full relief and are gilded. The centre is surmounted by a cresting of pierced acanthus foliage, and below the pipes are two panels of similar ornament. The side compartments rise above the centre and have ogee-shaped cornices edged with foliage. The lower stage has an enriched entablature, the pediment being decorated with with a symmetrical design of shell and foliage. Above the keyboard is a panel carved with swags of drapery and the heads of three putti. On each side are three moulded panels forming cupboard doors. The case is fitted with a keyboard having two manuals and signed 'Lincoln 1794', and a barrel organ.

The barrel has a list of hand-written tunes: 'No1 Morning Hymn; 2. Mount Ephraim; 3. Old 100th' 4. Old 104th; 5. Offord; 6. Evening Hymn'.

Bequeathed by J.M. Courage

Raymond Russell, in the catalogue ‘Early Keyboard Instruments’ (V&A 1959), describes this as

‘Front of a chamber organ case in mahogany, carved in rococo style, with gilt dummy wooden pipes. The design follows Plate V of Chippendale’s ‘The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director, 3rd edition, 1762, with slight variations. The chamber organ, or which this case formed the front, formerly stood in the front hall of Polebarn House, Trowbridge, Wiltshire. Two keyboards survive, one of them signed ‘Lincoln 1794’. This would be John Lincoln, the father of Henry Cephas Lincoln (1789-1864).’

In December 1970, the V&A received a letter with details of the origin of this organ case. (Letter filed on object file.) Miss Truda Clark wrotet:

‘this case comes from an organ completed in 1779 by my great-great-grandfather’s brother, John Clark, for his own house in Polebarn Road, Trowbridge.
In his diary for December 12th, 1779, he wrote “I have this year finished my organ and some other mechanical and philosophical employments with which, I bless God, I have pleasingly filled up my leisure hours”.
Unfortunately we have not got his personal account books and do not know where he obtained this organ case. He was a “clothier” (i.e. cloth manufacturer) and the business was carried on by my family until a few
years ago.’

In 1921 the house was taken over by Wiltshire County Council’, who sold the organ case to the Bath antique dealers Charles Angell. They advertised it in the Connoisseur magazine as a ‘genuine Chippendale mahogany organ case, in its unrestored condition…there are no works. History can be given. Recently purchased direct from a mansion in the neighbourhood of Bath. Height 11 ft 4 in, width 6 ft 6 in. The advertisement includes a photograph of the organ case as it appears in photographs of the case at the foot of the stairs at Polebarn House. The photographs show the original pipes and include an extra section of panelling below the pipes, which was possibly a later alteration and which has since been removed.

The case was bought from C. Angell by JM Courage, of Derry’s Wood, Wonersh, near Guildford. What happened to the Lincoln pipework is not clear; but the case subsequently served as a frontal to a section of a organ at Derrys Wood. Mr Courage bequeathed the organ to the V&A in 1931.

Ralph Edwards, a curator at the V&A, inspected the organ case at Derrys Wood in 1931 and reported that ‘The late Mr Courage was an organ builder & also a musical enthusiast. He bought this case, so I understand, many years ago in Bath, and used it in his Music room as a screen or front to an important organ, which he has bequeathed to Southwark Cathedral….Though about 12 ft high and 6’ wide the depth of the case is not more than 2ft. As a specimen of English carving and decoration of the mid-18th century this bequest is of considerable importance, even if the size makes rather serious demand on our space’.

An organ barrel appears to have been acquired with the organ case, and might have been fitted to play automatic music in addition to, or instead of, using the keyboard. The list of hymns inscribed on the barrel are all old Christian hymn tunes which suggests that the organ was originally intended for use in a church where there was no full organ installed, as an accompaniment to congregational singing.

On show in the Octagon Court (Gallery 40) in January 1936 (Neg. no. 73942, view no. 5)

W.37:1 to 5-1931