Spinet by Cristofori

Single manual; original keyboard compass F1/G1/A1–C3, extended to f3 in 1795; 8', 4' stops. Registration changes are effected by shifting the keyboard. In terms of size and scaling, the instrument is a harpsichord with a laterally mounted keyboard, while its construction classifies it as a spinet. To date, only three instruments of this type are known to have survived: the one described here; another unsigned *cembalo traverso*—also highly likely built by Cristofori—now in the US National Museum in Washington; and an instrument built in 1731 by Giovanni Ferrini (a pupil of Cristofori), now in private hands. Poplar bottom board, 12 mm thick, set between the case walls; the section beneath the keyboard has been replaced.

Credit: Uni Leipzig