Russell Collection of Early
Keyboard Instruments

HS7-JK1769.49: Single-manual harpsichord, Jacob Kirkman.
London, 1769.

The inauguration of the 1769 single-manual harpsichord by
Jacob Kirckman, London

Jacob Kirckman, b. Bischweiler, Switzerland, 1710; d. 9 June, 1792.
Jacob Kirkman was an Alsatian of Swiss extraction who moved to London a few years before 1738. The family name was originally Kirchmann and this was anglicised to Kirckman and then, although his instruments are always signed Kirckman, he used the form Kirkman when he himself signed documents in the period after he became naturalised in 1755. When Kirckman arrived in England he apprenticed under the Flemish-born harpsichord maker Hermann Tabel and became Tabel's foreman. Charles Burney writes amusingly about how "Kirchmann worked with the celebrated Tabel as his foreman and finisher till the time of his death [in 1738]. Soon after which . . . Kirchmann married his master's widow, by which prudent measure he became possessed of all Tabel's seasoned wood, tools and stock-in-trade . . .". Kirckman seems to have divided his time among harpsichord building, money lending and dealing in property. Whatever else he did to occupy his time he was certainly one of the most prolific and one of the finest makers in the history of harpsichord making. Indeed there are probably more surviving harpsichords and spinets by Kirckman than by any other maker of the historical period.

Description of the harpsichord
The instrument is 222.2cm long x 94.0cm wide x 28.9cm deep.
The total height including the stand is 89.0cm.
The harpsichord is signed "Jacobus Kirckman Londini Fecit 1769", and there seems to be no reason whatsoever to doubt either its authenticity or its provenance. It is disposed with two sets of jacks and two sets of strings at normal 8' pitch. The two sets of strings can be operated by either or both of the two registers using manual stop levers. The compass is five octaves from F₁, G₁ to f³ (there is no F¹ - a normal feature in English harpsichords built before 1785), and the c2 string scaling is 347mm, also a normal value for such an instrument.

The appearance of the instrument is that of a normal eighteenth-century English harpsichord. The outside of the case is decorated with fielded panels of mahogany veneer surrounded with narrow parquetry stringing and walnut bands. The inside of the case above the keys (the keywell) is decorated with burr walnut veneer with satinwood stringing and walnut bands, with the signature on a satinwood lozenge on a burr walnut background. The keys have natural touchplates in ivory with ebony sharps and moulded sycamore arcades. There are lacquered brass 'S'-shaped hooks on the cheek and bentside for holding the lid closed and fine lacquered brass strap-hinges on the lid and lid flap. The stop levers in the keywell are also of lacquered brass, and all of this hardware is certainly original. The stand is of solid mahogany with moulded legs and stretchers. The instrument is in remarkably good condition and there is little sign of even minor damage to any of the case, hardware or stand. There is also virtually none of the usual case twisting caused normally by the instrument having once been strung with thick strings heavier than those intended by the maker. The soundboard is decorated with a gilt brass rosette incorporating an angel (St Cecilia?) playing the harp and the Latin initials 'IK' of the maker.

Most eighteenth-century harpsichords have a disposition with three sets of strings: 2 strings at 8' pitch and one set at 4' pitch. The presence of the 4' bridge to which the 4' strings are attached does have a serious effect on the sound of the instrument in the treble. Because the 4' strings have to be hitched to a heavy supporting rail glued to the underside of the soundboard between the 4' and 8' bridges, and because of the shortness of both the 8' and the 4' treble strings, there is very little space for freely vibrating soundboard around the bridges in the treble. This greatly restricts the vibration of the main 8' bridge and inevitably results in a degree of tightness and lack of brilliance at the top end of the compass of these instruments. A harpsichord without a 4' register, although lacking the variety of tonal combinations possible with the additional 4', does have a uniformity in the quality of the sound it produces throughout the whole of the compass. Because of the attraction of the sound quality produced by such an instrument, it has been one of the types of instrument on the list of desirable acquisitions to round out the musical perspective provided by the other instruments in the Russell Collection, and it was this feature that prompted the purchase of the instrument. Instruments with only two 8' registers are quite rare and this is one of the few such instruments to come on the market since 1974.

The instrument is a fine piece of Georgian furniture in amazingly good condition. Musically it is unusual and desirable because of the excellent sound of such an instrument with an un-restricted treble voice.

Restoration:
During the time that it was owned by David Graebe the harpsichord was restored by Malcolm Rose and Karen Richter in the period March to May 1986. The restoration of the instrument to its present state was carried out by John Raymond, Assistant Curator of the Russell Collection, under the supervision of the Curator.

When it came to the Collection the harpsichord had an non-original pedal and pedal mechanism which operated on one of the registers and stop levers. This was removed so that both of the stop levers could be operated manually as originally intended. There was a great deal of packing material under the keys and keyframe and this was removed and the keys and jacks brought to their correct height. The tuning pins were loose in the wrestplank and the tuning-pin holes were shimmed out to ensure that the pins would be held tightly so that the instrument would hold its tuning. Some new jacks were made and some of the jack tongues were either repaired or replaced. One of the sets of jacks had been quilled with non-original leather plectra and the holes for these were filled in order to use feather quills as originally.

The instrument was strung with iron, yellow brass and red brass wire similar to that used in the eighteenth century. Although this wire is not available in the same sizes as the eighteenth-century gauges, the modern string diameters were chosen to give the same overall tension in each part of the compass as that of the eighteenth-century string diameters. This ensures that the acoustical effect achieved using the modern strings is the same as that which would have been obtained by the original stringing. The twist of the treble case side (the cheek) was carefully monitored before the strings were removed, during the period that the instrument was un-strung, and in period after the re-stringing with the new strings had taken place.

The jacks were quilled with natural raven's feathers (moulted naturally and not from birds killed for the purpose!), and the instrument was tuned and voiced, and the action regulated in the usual way. The result exceeds all of the expectations which we had for the instruments before its purchase and restoration.

Provenance and purchase:
The instrument has belonged in the past to Mrs. Trafford, Goodrich Court; Alan Legg, Cirencester; Hugh Gough, London; Albert Honey; Noel Dilkes; Roger Bibby who bought it 1 June 1961 at Christie's; and David Graebe who bought it from Roger Bibby on January 28, 1967. The Friends of St Cecilia's Hall and the Russell Collection bought the instrument for the University of Edinburgh in 1995 with the help of a generous bequest from the late John W Oswald a former member of the Friends, and from further contributions from the National Fund for Acquisitions, the National Art Collections Fund, and from The Pilgrim Trust.

Literature:
Donald Howard Boalch, Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord, 1440-1840, third edition edited by Charles Mould (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1995) p. 438.