A George III two-manual harpsichord by Jacob Kirckman, London, 1760
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
the case veneered with panels of walnut with elmwood crossbanding, the lid with shaped and pierced brass strap hinges, the keywell extensively decorated in marquetry with floral scrollwork, the jack rails similarly decorated, the faciaboard with a central marquetry trophy of musical instruments flanked by angels and eagles, the soundboard with inset giltwood rose, pierce and carved with King David playing the harp flanked by the maker’s initials I. K., the five-octave keyboard, FF to f3 omitting FF♯, with ivory naturals and ebony accidentals, four brass-knobbed hand levers controlling two 8ft. and one 4ft. stops on the lower manual and one 8ft. and 8ft lute stops on the upper manual, on trestle stand, the lower cabriole section with the knees carved with acanthus leaves, on claw and ball feet, inscribed on a boxwood plaque on the baton above the upper keyboard Jacobus Kirckman Londini fecit 1760, repairs to base,
Haut. 90 cm, long.232 cm, prof. 94 cm ; height 35 1/2 in, length 91 1/3 in, depth 37 in
Please note that this lot contains elephant ivory the export of which outside the EU is now prohibited pursuant to European regulation 2021/2280 of 16 December 2021. Pursuant to the UK Ivory Act 2018, clients based in the United Kingdom are not able to bid on / purchase this lot. Sotheby's will be able to provide the buyer with the intra-community certificate attached to this item.
Purchased at Sotheby’s 12 June 1931 by Mrs. Arthur Tritton, Denford Mill, Hungerford;
Professor G. Oldroyd, Croydon, sold at Sotheby’s 18 April 1968 to Mr. M. Ekstein;
Rudolf Nureyev, sold Christie’s, New York 12-13 January 1995, lot 321.;
Pelham Galleries, London;
Sotheby's Treasures, 6th July 2021, lot 10;
where acquired.
Recorded by Donald Boalch in Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord, 1440-1840 (3rd edition, ed. Charles Mould) p. 430.
This is one of twelve known examples of harpsichords with elaborate cases made by the renowned Jacob Kirkman of London. Kirkman was a Swiss Alsatian who immigrated to England in the early 1730s and found employment with the harpsichord maker Hermann Tabel. After Tabel's death in 1738, Kirkman married his widow and took over his master's workshop including the materials and stock of harpsichords. Jacob later formed a partnership with his nephew Abraham, who later would take his own son Joseph into the workshop. The Kirkman firm was one of the most prolific builders of keyboard instruments in England during the eighteenth century thought to have supplied a similar instrument to Queen Charlotte in 1766 (see Sotheby's London, Spetchley - Property from the Berkeley Collection, 11 December 2019, lot 39). In addition to harpsichords, the Kirkmans would also build pianos. The company built its last harpsichord in 1809.
Rudolph Nureyev
This elaborate harpsichord was previously in the collection of Rudolf Nureyev, where it took pride of place in the bedroom of his apartment in the legendary Dakota building in New York City. One of the most charismatic ballet stars of the 20th century and an artist who was often called the greatest male dancer since Vaslav Nijinsky. Nureyev fundamentally changed public perception of both ballet and the male ballet dancer becoming a worldwide sensation and popularising the art form.
Nureyev was born in Siberia and trained at the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad from the age of seventeen, joining Kirov Ballet in 1958. It was during a Kirov tour to Paris in 1961 that he made the bold move and defected to the West, an offence deemed treason and the first political defection by a Soviet artist. After debuts in America he made his London debut dancing with the renowned Margot Fonteyn at a charity gala, followed by his Royal Ballet debut on 21 February 1962 in Giselle again with Fonteyn. While with the Company he danced with the world’s leading ballet companies, on Broadway and on film, and won wide acclaim as a stager (including Don Quixote) and choreographer (including Romeo and Juliet). He was appointed Artistic Director of Paris Opéra in 1983 and was awarded the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur at the premiere of his last work with the company, a staging of La Bayadère, on 8th October 1992.
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