拍品專文
SEBASTIAN ERARD WAS BORN IN 1752 IN STRASBURG. IN 1768 HE MOVED TO PARIS, WHERE HE SOON BECAME ONE OF THE MAJOR INSTRUMENT MAKERS OF HIS TIME, PROTECTED BY LOUIS XVI WHO GRANTED HIM A SPECIAL LICENSE. IN 1777 ERARD MADE HIS FIRST SQUARE PIANO. WHEN THE REVOLUTION OF 1789 HAD DESTROYED HIS BUSINESS IN PARIS HE LEFT FOR LONDON WHERE HE OPENED A FACTORY AT GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. ALTHOUGH BETTER KNOWN FOR HIS PIANOS, THE HARP SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN ERARD'S FAVOURITE INSTRUMENT, FOR WHICH HE REGISTERED A NUMBER OF PATENTS. IN JUNE 1810, AFTER WORKING ON IT FOR EIGHT YEARS, ERARD PATENTED THE DOUBLE-ACTION HARP WITH SEVEN PEDALS. THE CONCERT HARP OF TODAY BASICALLY MAINTAINS HIS DESIGN. HE ALSO HAD AN EIGHTH PEDAL FOR OPENING THE BACK OF THE SOUND BOX, TO WORK AS A SWELL. THIS WOULD SEEM TO BE THE HARP AS OFFERED HERE. ERARD'S COMPANY REMAINED ACTIVE INTO THE 20TH CENTURY.