A Franco-Flemish double-manual harpsichord, originally a 'transposing' harpsichord made in Antwerp in 1617 by an unknown maker.  It was given a bass ravalement in Paris sometime between 1742 and 1750.  Then it received a major alteration when it was lavishly decorated and given a treble ravalement in 1750 by François Étienne Blanchet, in Paris.  Later is was given a treble ravalement in 1786 by Jacques Barberini and Nicolas Hoffmann, also in Paris.

 

Cheek painting showing the extended bentside

This shows the cheek painting with the extension to the treble end of the bentside on the right from the line of the arrow to the present bentside/cheek join.  The figures on the cheek were probably once centred on the cheek as a whole but, when the bentside was extended, the right-hand end of the cheek and its painting were cut off.  The painting on the extended bentside is clearly by a different hand from the original, 1750 vernis martin decoration.

The case decoration has been cleaned, but not restored, in this photograph.

 

Return to the section on the eighteenth-century history of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord

 

Return to the section on the description of the Franco-Flemish harpsichord