Harp c. 1787 - 1790

metal, sculpture, wood

gouache

metal

sculpture

france

ceramic

wood

musical-instrument

decorative-art

rococo

This harp, created by the French father-and-son team Cousineau Père et Fils, is a fine example of 18th century craftsmanship. The harp's gilded wooden frame is adorned with intricate floral motifs and a mirrored surface that adds to its elegant presence. The harp, likely made for a wealthy patron, showcases the refined taste of the era and the meticulous detail that characterized French craftsmanship during the late 18th century. The harp is currently housed in the Minneapolis Institute of Art, offering a glimpse into the past for art and music enthusiasts alike.

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart about 1 year ago

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The harp was the most fashionable instrument in late 1700s Paris. Its popularity surely stemmed from the influence of Marie Antoinette, a well-trained musician, patroness of composers, and musical tastemaker who espoused a special love for this instrument. Georges and Jacques-Georges Cousineau, a father-son pair of harp builders, harpists, and music publishers, built this instrument. They are famous for the technological improvements they made to harp pedal mechanisms. Early in Georges’s career, his music shop near the Palais Royal Gardens stocked music engraved by his wife. In 1783, they were appointed as the Queen’s harp makers. The beautiful painting on this instrument demonstrates how harps were intended to both sound and look beautiful. But they also held personal meaning. After Marie Antoinette was guillotined, her first lady-in-waiting, Henriette Campan, tried to obtain the deceased Queen’s musical instruments and scores from the revolutionary government’s cache of confiscated royal property—both out of loyalty to her late mistress, but also out of necessity as she needed them for a school for girls she had opened.