Erard Harp with Gilt and Brass Mounts, London 1820
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A very fine gilt and brass mounted harp by Erard and retailed by T.J. Brown & Co., 12 Berners Street London, English circa 1820, with finely painted sound board and gilded decorations throughout, with eight pedals including a swell mechanism. Sebastian Erard, was born in Strasbourg on 5th April 1752 and his name was originally spelled Erhard. He moved to Paris in 1768, he worked for an unknown harpsichord maker. Erard wanted to explore the fundamentals of instrument making, it soon became apparent that Erard was a genius at finding ways around mechanical problems, which came to the attention the Abbe Roussier. His success as an instrument maker caused envy among his rivals who accused him of working outside the corporation without a licence. Louis XVI protected him and granted him a licence on his own authority. in 1777 Erard made his first square piano; it was probably a copy of an English Zumpe piano, there was a portrait of Erard shown at the international Inventions Exhibition of 1885. Once his reputation was established, Erard persuaded his brother-in-law to join him in Paris, their first pianos were squares with bichords throughout, a five-octave compass. Erard made a combination of piano and organ with two keyboards for Marie Antoinette, the revolution of 1789 destroyed his business in Paris and in 1792 he opened a factory in great Marlborough Street, London. Seemingly he left hi
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- Erard - The distinguished Parisian firm Erard?s, makers of harps and pianos, were in business between 1777 and 1960.
The business was founded by Sebastien Erard, who had been apprentice to a Parisian harpsichord maker for two years before establishing his own workshop in the rue de Bourbon. In 1786 the company expanded by opening a branch in London, and in 1789 his brother Jean-Baptiste joined as partner.
Sebastien Erard obtained a number of patent registrations in both England and France, for design innovations to both the harp and piano, the most important being for the double-action harp in 1810, the forerunner to today's concert harp. - Gilding - Gilding is a method of ornamentation whereby a thin sheet of gold metal is applied to items made of wood, leather, ceramics, glass and silver for decorative purposes.
For furniture including mirrors, the sheet of gold is usually applied over a coating of gesso. Gesso is a mixture of plaster of Paris and gypsum mixed with water and then applied to the carved wooden frames of mirrors and picture frames as a base for applying the gold leaf. After numerous coats of gesso have been applied, allowed to dry and then sanded a coat of "bole", a usually red coloured mixture of clay and glue is brushed on and allowed to dry, after which the gold leaf is applied. Over time parts of the gilding will rub off so the base colour can be seen. In water gilding, this was generally a blue colour, while in oil gilding, the under layer was often yellow. In Victorian times, gilders frequently used red as a pigment beneath the gold leaf.
Metal was often gilded by a process known as fire gilding. Gold mixed with mercury was applied and heated, causing the mercury to evaporate, the long-term effect of which was to kill or disable the craftsman or woman from mercury poisoning. The pursuit of beauty has claimed many victims, not the least of which were the artists who made those pieces so highly sought after today. - Circa - A Latin term meaning 'about', often used in the antique trade to give an approximate date for the piece, usually considered to be five years on either side of the circa year. Thus, circa 1900 means the piece was made about 1900, probably between 1895 and 1905. The expression is sometimes abbreviated to c.1900.
This item has been included into following indexes:
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musical instruments
- harps 27
- harpsichord 10
- pianos 105
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