Dear colleagues,
I am currently studying the phenomenon of harp makers who collected instruments (their own—for example, by preserving prototype models—or by other makers), even if these were not always acknowledged as 'collections' per se. I am aware of collections maintained by Erard, Pleyel, Salvi and Camac. I would be interested if in the course of your research any of you have encountered other makers who also collected.
Kind regards,
Robert
Dear Nancy,
Many thanks for this interesting information about Egan. I have just ordered your new book, and your stories about his studies of earlier Irish harps have made me impatient to read it.
Yes, you are absolutely correct: I am interested more in the idea of ‘collecting’ (in quotes) than collecting (without quotes). My curiosity about this practice came from my work on the Erard and Camac ‘collections’. In both cases, the makers (Sébastien and Pierre Erard, and Jakez François) did not consciously set out to ‘collect’ instruments, but rather preserved and acquired instruments as an intuitive and integral part of their work. The motivations for this practice vary from maker to maker, but include:
1. preserving organological documentation for study
2. preserving prototype models of the maker’s own instruments
3. preserving instruments with original or curious features
4. preserving material that could eventually be useful in trials for patent infringement
In the case of Erard and Camac, the ‘collections’ (in quotes) evolved into actual collections (no quotes) that are exhibited to the public.
Of course harp makers were not alone in ‘collecting’ in this manner. The most striking example of this kind of ‘accidental’ collector is Adolphe Sax, who acquired instruments throughout most of his adult life, even if he never seemed to have considered himself to be a collector per se. (His private collection of 467 instruments remained virtually unknown until 1877, when his dire financial situation forced him to sell it at auction.) However, it does seem to me that harp makers have been unusually active in this kind of unintentional collecting, perhaps because the specific trajectory of mechanical and decorative innovations in the harp’s history has inspired a quasi-museographical attitude to its understanding and appreciation. Harp makers have been singularly aware of their place in the evolution of this highly mechanized instrument. Similarly, they have often demonstrated a keen interest in the decorative history of their instrument, because the harp is one of the few instruments that today that is still highly decorated.
Best,
Robert