Gardiner Houlgate
Los 1043
French two-manual harpsichord by Sébastien Garnier, Paris, 1747, the case side veneered with panels of pear wood with mahogany crossbanding, the lid of pearwood edged with later mouldings, the junction between the main lid and the front flap with pierced steel strap hinges, the two panels of the lid interior each painted en grisaille with ruined castles in a landscape, the soundboard painted with sprays of flowers inhabited by insects, with later gilded rose pierced and carved with a naked lady holding an hourglass, the later wrestplank painted with scrolling foliage, the keyboards, compass GG to d3, both with ebony naturals, the lower keyboard with bone overlaid accidentals and gilded arcading, the upper keyboard with ivory overlaid accidentals and ivory arcading, registration comprising two 8ft. stops and one 4ft stop with shove coupler, metal hand-lever controlling the 4ft register, on later curved X-frame supports united by a stretcher. Inscribed on the uppermost key shaft of the lower manual Sebastian Garnier….le 23ème 1747 Length 233cm, width 88.5cm, case depth 28cm *Formerly in the Collection of Michael Thomas. Recorded in Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440-1840, by Donald Boalch (3rd edition, ed. Charles Mould), pp. 67 & 325. Recorded in Clavicins et Clavichordes by Michael Thomas (catalogues of the exhibition at the Musée Instrumental du Conservatoire National de Nice, 1979). Illustrated in Les Clavicins by Claude Mercier-Ythier, p.84
