Lot number 2711 - Auction 150
KONZERTHARFE / DOPPELPEDALHARFE

SÉBASTIAN ERARD 1752 Strasbourg (Alsace) - 1831 London CONCERTORIUM HARP / DOUBLE PEDAL HARP Paris, around 1805 Various precious woods, spruce, maple, walnut, carved, gilded, brass. H. 178.5, w. 48, d. 93 cm. Marked 'Erard' on the side, numbered '3407', '13 Rue du Mail Paris'. This large orchestral harp comes from the renowned Parisian workshop of Sébastien Érard (1752-1831), one of the most important instrument makers of the 19th century and a pioneer of modern harp mechanics. Curved frame on a twisted column decorated with ornamentation and carved capital with surrounding allegories of music. At the base with paw feet and seven pedals. This harp was made in Érard's Paris workshop before he moved to London and thus represents the early phase of his work. Part chipped and damaged, strings incomplete, untuned, mechanism checked. Literature: Cf. Baldwin: The Inventor of the Double-Action Pedal Harp with Fourchettes: Erardversus Groll, FoMRHI Quarterly No. 79, pp. 29-34. Provenance: Private collection, Hesse.