List of Keyboards
Harpsichord by Giusti, G
The body is made of cypress; the soundboard is thought to be without a rosette. 1 manual, C/E-f3, 8'8'. The two stops can be selected via two internal pull-out levers fitted on the left-hand side. The lower keys are faced with boxwood, the upper keys with ebony. The storage case is still in the museum; it measures 2060 x 870 x 260 mm, is made of spruce, painted a uniform light grey, with the edges of the lid bronzed and the inside of the lid unpainted. The two-part frame with three column-like, turned, bronzed legs has not been preserved. Credit: Uni of Leipzig
Photo is stock image and does not represent this instrument.
Harpsichord by Giusti, G
The exterior of the box is painted with floral ornaments against a dark background. The interior of the front flap features a statue of Cupid on a round pedestal, set before a tripod with a sacrificial flame within a temple-like, flower-wreathed enclosure. The interior of the lid displays an oval medallion suspended by chains, accompanied by a ring of putti in a landscape, flying cupids with floral garlands, and a sea nymph with a cornucopia—all framed by a black border with gold ornamentation. This painted decoration is likely original but heavily rubbed, compromised by areas of overpainting, and damaged by brown varnish.
Photo Credit: Uni Leipzig
Square Piano Harmonium by Gilbert, T
This combination square piano-harmonium was made by Timothy Gilbert in Boston, Massachusetts about 1855. The harmonium, or reed organ, is mounted beneath the piano cabinet and shares the same keyboard as the piano. This instrument is serial number 5327 (piano) and serial number AE1803 (harmonium), has a compass of FF-a4, an English double action, felt hammers, double-strings throughout, 1 hand stop: silencing hammers, 4 pedals: harmonium swell, piano dampers, piano moderator, and harmonium pump, full iron frame, and a rosewood (?) case
Credit: Smithsonian
Upright Piano by Gilbert, L
This upright piano was made by Lemuel Gilbert in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1840s. Lemuel and his brother, Timothy, received patents for improvements to upright and square actions. This piano has a compass of CC-c5, a birdcage action, leather hammers, single- and double-strings, 2 pedals: keyboard shift and dampers, a wood frame, straight-strung, and a veneered case
Credit: Smithsonian
Square Piano by Gibson & Morgan Davis
This square piano was made by Thomas Gibson and Morgan Davis in New York, New York around 1810. Gibson and Morgan had a partnership from 1802-1822. This piano features a patented transposing keyboard, which can be hand-shifted to permit an octave range of starting notes. A diagram beneath the inscription shows the row of starting notes for orientation. This piano has a compass of FF-c4, an English double action, leather hammers, double-strings throughout, 1 pedal: dampers, and a wood frame and case.
Credit: Smithsonian
Harpsichord by Germain, J
This harpsichord features the standard late-18th-century French disposition: two manuals with compass FF to f3; lower manual with quilled 8', a peau de buffle 8' (plucking the same set of strings as the quilled 8'), and 4'; upper manual with 8'; buff to the upper 8'; and shove coupler. Presumably, the registers were originally controlled by genouillères (knee pommels).
The keyboard naturals are made of ebony, while the sharps consist of hardwood stained black and covered with bone slips.
Although the instrument was unsympathetically rebuilt in the early 1950s, these alterations were reversed by Hugh Gough, from whom the NMM acquired the instrument in 1983. The soundboard, with its beautiful original decorative painting, is in an excellent state of preservation, as are the keyboards and the major components of the case. The Louis XV-style case is original, while the painted decoration on the case exterior and interior of the lid is an early-twentieth-century "enhancement." Most importantly, the instrument retains the superb, refined tone that is so characteristic of the 18th-century French harpsichord.
