THE CLAVICHORD IN THE
RIJKSMUSEUM, AMSTERDAM
This article first appeared in
British Clavichord Society Newsletter 73 (Spring 2019)
Photo: Rijksmuseum,Amsterdam
Clavichord, Inv. No. BK-NM-9487.
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the national art gallery of the Netherlands, owns a small collection of musical instruments. For ten years, during rebuilding works, these were inaccessible, even to specialists. Since the museum reopened in 2013 some have been on display, but they are rather overshadowed by the many superb masterpieces of Dutch painting and can be hard to find, so some guidance may be helpful for any readers who may be planning to visit Amsterdam.
A few keyboard and other instruments are on the lower ground floor in Room 0.8. They are in the ‘Special Collections’ section, which is well worth looking at; but the museum’s one and only clavichord is not there. It is in the gallery dedicated to dolls’ houses, on the second floor (Room 2.20). The clavichord is too big for a doll’s house, but it is certainly small – only 32 × 11 in. (825 × 275 mm). It has the compass C/E–c³ with a short octave bass, and it is multiple-fretted from note B♭ upwards, with two, three or four notes obtained from each course.
Another picture
of the instrument can be found on the internet here. It is a highly decorative object. The lid inside has a picture showing figures in a landscape, which may be the work of Dirck Stroop (1615–1686). The case exterior is enlivened with graceful gilded flowers, and wavy mouldings (so-called Flammleisten) are found around the top edges and the border of the lid painting: this may provide a clue to the clavichord’s origin, since it is a type of decoration characteristic of South Germany in the Baroque period.[1] The keys are of ivory. The tiny soundboard is decorated with a flower-painting.Like so many small clavichords, the instrument is unsigned and undated. The painting certainly seems to be Dutch, but the clavichord itself seems more likely to be of South German origin. It was bought from Mr D. Buigman for 250 guilders in 1892; nothing is known about its previous history.
While there are no other clavichords in the museum, there is one item related to our instrument that I urge you not to miss: the beautiful fifteenth century oak carving by Adriaen van Wesel entitled St Joseph with Three Musician Angels. This includes one of the most celebrated early images of a clavichord being played. It is on display in Room 0.1, in the section devoted to works of art dating from before 1600, which is on the lower ground floor.
[1] For more on Flammleisten see the German Wikipedia article; for another clavichord decorated in this way, see the article ‘A Mystery Clavichord’ in BCSN 72. [Return]