We are proud to serve customers and help them find the right harpsichord. Often a customer will start with a single-manual instrument and then wish to trade it in subsequently as their musical needs change and grow. We are selling this 2018 harpsichord for a family of proud Navy veterans (hence the whimsical inclusion of U.S. Navy aircraft on the soundboard below the music desk). It is one of the finest instruments ever built in our Stonington shop under the direction of Richard Auber. The traditional Flemish decoration is by Tatyana Nivina.This concert-ready instrument is available to try out on our showroom floor in Stonington. The following general description is from our catalog:

The members of the Ruckers family of Antwerp dominated harpsichord making North of the Alps for the first 50 years of the 17th century. They produced virginals in a variety of forms and sizes, but their single and double-manual harpsichords were the most prized. By the end of the 17th century their singles, with only a 1x8', 1x4' disposition and a 45-note (four-octave) short- octave keyboard, seemed hopelessly inadequate. But the instruments were far too valuable to discard, so in a process called ravalement, they were rebuilt to give them the more flexible disposition with an enlarged compass.

The Ruckers' double-manual harpsichords were originally made with their keyboards unaligned--the lower manual was a fourth lower than the upper. Later, they underwent ravalement as well, and in the process their keyboards were lined up. Our Flemish instruments have been "enlarged" to four and a half octaves with chromatic bass, giving a compass useful for most of the music written in the baroque.

Specifications:

Disposition: 2x8', buff; stop levers in keywell

Range: 56+1 notes, GG-d'''; transposable A415/A440

Dimensions: app. 82" x 29"

Weight: app. 121 lbs.

Action: reverse keyboard with ebony naturals, bone-slipped sharps and pearwood arcades; wooden jacks

Wood: case in basswood; oak wrestplank; Swiss pine soundboard

Furniture: turned oak stand, collapsible music desk and lid stick store within case for transport

Standard features:

Antique style music wire

Soundboard painting

Decorative rose in the soundboard

Case and interior lid painting in Flemish style with case marbling using traditional techniques

Flemish papers around the inner case and in the keywell

Price: $19,500