Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments

HD7-PT1769.15: Double-manual harpsichord, Pascal Taskin. Paris, 1769.

Signature:"PASCAL TASKIN ELEVE DE BLANCHET" written around the rose.

Rose: Initials: PT. Diameter: 81 Location: the centre is 201½ to the spine and 548 to the nameboard.

Scantlings:

Case width at the gap: Inside: 892; outside: 934
Nameboard thickness: 14.5
Soundboard/wrestplank to top of the case: 55®, 55®, 52*

The construction of the case of this harpsichord follows the Flemish tradition with the case sides sitting on top of the baseboard, and with mouldings cut into the tops of the case sides. The internal bracing is very well designed with vertical braces standing on the baseboard and running perpendicular to the spine, and with diagonal upper-level braces running between the bentside and the spine and bellyrail. The belly rail has a "T" section and has steel plates reinforcing the gap between it and the wrestplank. All of the internal bracing is carefully smoothed out and rounded using a wood rasp.

See Frank Hubbard, Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making, (Cambridge, Mass., 1965) plate XII.

Keyboard:
Compass: F₁ to f³, 61 notes.
3-octave span: 476
Total width of keyboard at the natural fronts: 816 (u.m.); 816 (l.m.)

Disposition:

	Plucking Direction	Pitch
Back Row:		8'
Second Row:		4'
Front Row:		8'

There is a normal French shove coupler.

Stop lever arrangement:

Position which engages the register
Back (long) 8'	Buff (short) 8'	4'

Note: The arrow direction indicates the position which engages the register.

Scalings:

Width of the string band from the 8' long F₁ to the 8' short f³: 812.

Nut/Wrestplank gauge markings:
There are no gauge markings on the instrument.

Soundboard wood quality:
Maximum number of 28 rings per 2.5 cms near e2 by the 8' bridge.
Minimum number of 10 rings per 2.5 cms near the bass end of the 8' bridge.

Pin dimensions:

Total length of the tuning pins: 8': 53; 4': 50.*
The 8' bridge is back-pinned from F₁ to long e¹ inclusive; the 4' is not back-pinned.

Keyboard pin dimensions:

Bridge and nut dimensions:

Materials:

Decoration:
The soundboard decoration is original and carried out with bold strokes of the brush in a painterly way which achieves the effect of both drawing and shading at the same time. The inside of the case was originally a subtle shade of a pinkish brown, but the deli-cacy of this colour has been altered by the discoloration of a later varnish. The outside of the case is also a subtle shade of a pastel copper green, but this colour is also probably altered by a later layer of varnish. Both the inside and the outside of the case are outlined with lines of gold-coloured bronze powder. The stand with its cabriole legs and apron are in the typical Louis XV fashion and is almost certainly original.

Biography of Pascal-Joseph Taskin I:
Taskin was born sometime between 1723 and 1729 in Theux in the Province of Liege in what is now Belgium. He died at Versailles in February, 1793. From Theux he came to work in Paris in the atelier of François-Étienne Blanchet II. After the death of Blanchet in April 1766, he became a journeyman (maìtre) harpsichord builder, married Blanchet's widow, and took over Blanchet's workshop in the Rue de la Verrerie. He was the court harpsichord builder to both Louis XV and Louis XVI. His instruments span the period in which the piano became popular, and at the time of his death there were pianos and harp-sichords in equal numbers under construction in his workshop. Taskin's instruments with their rich sonorous bass and elegant sweet treble have an extremely beautiful and exciting sound. Indeed the Russell Collection's 'Green Taskin' is one of the most famous and copied instruments from any collection in the world.

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