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Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
expression a “pair” or “set” of virginals was used in the same
manner as a “pair” or “set” of steps or stairs, and in England an
oblong spinet was called a virginal, in distinction from the spinet of
triangular shape, which superseded the rectangular, oblong form in
which the earliest spinets were made. Both virginal and spinet had
but one string to a key, and the tone of both was produced by a sort
of plectrum which picked the string. This plectrum usually consisted
of a crow quill, set in an upright piece of wood, called a “jack,” which
was fastened to the back of the key. The depressing of the key by
the finger caused the quill to rise, and as it passed the string, the
vibration produced the musical tone, which is described by Dr.
Burney as “A scratch with a sound at the end of it.” The name of the
spinet is by some supposed to be derived from these quills,—from
spina, a thorn. According to other authorities the name came from a
maker of the instrument, named Spinetti. The virginal was so called
because young maids were wont to play upon it, among them that
perennial young girl, Queen Elizabeth. The most famous makers of
spinets in England were Charles Haward or Haywood, Thomas and
John Hitchcock, and Stephen Keene. In Pepys’s diary are the
following entries:—
“April 4, 1668. Called upon one Haward that makes virginalls, and there
did like of a little espinette and will have him finish it for me; for I had a
mind to a small harpsichon, but this takes up less room.”
“July 15, 1668. At noon is brought home the espinette I bought the
other day of Haward; cost me 5£.”

Illustration 281 shows a spinet in the Deerfield Museum, which

formerly belonged to Miss Sukey Barker of Hingham, who must have
been a much envied damsel. It is marked Stephanus Keene, which
places the date of its make about 1690. The body of the spinet
stands twenty-four inches from the floor. Its extreme length is fifty-
six inches, and the keyboard of four and one-half octaves measures
twenty-nine inches. There are but six keys left, but they are enough
to show that the naturals were black and the sharps white. There is
a row of fine inlaying above the keyboard, and the maker’s name is
surrounded with painted flowers.
 Illus. 281.—Stephen Keene Spinet, about 1690.

The spinet, as may be seen, was a tiny instrument, in shape

similar to our modern grand piano. The body of the spinet was
entirely separate from the stand, which was made with stretchers
between the legs, of which there were three and sometimes four, so
placed that one leg came under the narrow back end of the spinet,
one under the right end of the front, and one or sometimes two at
the left of the front. The instrument rested upon this table or trestle.
The name upon the majority of spinets found in this country is
that of Thomas Hitchcock. His spinets are numbered and
occasionally dated. There is a Thomas Hitchcock spinet owned by
the Concord Antiquarian Society, numbered 1455, and one owned in
Worcester, numbered 1519.
Illustration 282 shows a spinet which was owned by Elizabeth
Hunt Wendell of Boston. It was probably an old instrument when she
took it with her from Boston to Portland in 1766 upon her marriage
to the Rev. Thomas Smith, known as Parson Smith of Portland. It is
now owned by her great-great-grandaughter in Gorham, Maine. The
board above the keys has two lines of inlaying around it, and is
marked “Thomas Hitchcock Londoni fecit, 1390.” The front of the
white keys is cut with curved lines, and the black keys have a line of
white ivory down the centre. The parrot-back chair in the illustration
is described upon page 168. Authorities seem to vary upon dates
when the Hitchcocks made spinets. Mr. A. J. Hipkins of London, the
well-known authority upon pianos, harpsichords, and spinets, writes
me that he dates the Thomas Hitchcock spinets from 1664 to 1703,
and those of John Hitchcock, the son of Thomas, from 1676 to about
1715. Mr. Hipkins says that the highest number he has met with
upon Thomas Hitchcock’s spinets is 1547, so it is safe to date this
spinet in Illustration 282, which numbers 1390, to about 1690.

Illus. 282.—Thomas Hitchcock Spinet, about 1690.

By the latter half of the eighteenth century proficiency upon

various musical instruments was not uncommon. John Adams in
1771 speaks of a young man of twenty-six, as “a great proficient in
music, plays upon the flute, fife, harpsichord, spinet, etc.; a very fine
Connecticut young gentleman.”
 Illus. 283.—Broadwood Harpsichord, 1789.

In 1768 in the Boston Chronicle appears the advertisement of

John Harris, recently from England, “that he makes and sells all sorts
of Harpsichords and Spinets,” and in 1769 the Boston Gazette says,
“A few days since was shipped for Newport a very curious Spinet,
being the first one ever made in America, the performance of the
ingenious Mr. John Harris.” In 1770 the same paper praises an
excellent “spinet” made by a Bostonian, “which for goodness of
workmanship and harmony of sound is esteemed by the best judges
to be superior to any that has been imported from Europe.” This
would seem to indicate that a tone of superiority in musical matters
was assumed by Boston at an early date. The statement with regard
to the first spinet made in America is incorrect, for over twenty years
earlier, in 1742, Hasselinck had made spinets in Philadelphia.
In the Essex Institute of Salem is a spinet made by Samuel
Blythe of Salem, the bill for which, dated 1786, amounts to eighteen
pounds.
The harpsichord, so named from its shape, was the most
important of the group of contemporary instruments, the virginal,
spinet, and harpsichord, the tone of which was produced with the
quill and jack. The harpsichord had two strings to each key, and the
instrument occupied the relative position that the grand piano does
to-day, being much larger and having more tone than the spinet.
Like the spinet, its manufacture ceased with the eighteenth century.
Illustration 283 shows a harpsichord formerly owned by Charles
Carroll, who was so eager to identify himself as a patriot, that he
signed his name to the Declaration of Independence as Charles
Carroll of Carrollton. This harpsichord was discovered twenty-five
years ago in the loft of an old college building in Annapolis, where it
had lain for fifty years. The Carroll coat of arms, painted upon
porcelain and framed in gold, is fastened above the keyboard. The
inscription upon this instrument is “Burkat Shudi et Johannes
Broadwood, patent No. 955 Londini, Fecerant 1789, Great Poulteney
Street, Golden Square.”
There are two banks of keys, with a range of five octaves, and
three stops, which were intended to change the tone, two of them
being marked harp and lute. The case is quite plain, of mahogany,
with a few lines of inlaying above the keyboard and a line around
the body and top. It is owned by William Knabe & Co. of Baltimore,
and is one of fourteen Broadwood harpsichords known to exist.
That the harpsichord was not an uncommon instrument in this
country during the latter half of the eighteenth century is shown by
the number of advertisements of the harpsichord and its teachers.
Illustration 284 shows a clavichord or clavier, made about 1745.
It is owned by Mr. John Orth of Boston. The clavichord, like its
successor, the square piano, was of oblong shape. The musical tone
was produced in a different manner from that of either the spinet or
piano. Each key had at the back an upright “tangent” or wedge-
shaped piece of brass, which, as the front of the key was depressed,
rose and set the string of twisted brass wire in vibration, by pressing
upon it, instead of picking it like the quill of the spinet and
harpsichord. This pressure divided the string into two different
lengths, the shorter length being prevented from vibrating by a band
of cloth interlaced with the strings. The same interlaced cloth
stopped the vibration of the longer division of the string, as soon as
the pressure was taken from the key, thus allowing the tangent to
fall. In the earlier clavichords one string had to serve to produce the
tone for two or three different keys.

Illus. 284.—Clavichord, 1745.

These instruments were called “gebunden,” or fretted. Later

instruments are “bund frei” or free, having a string for each key. The
clavichord player could feel the elasticity of the wire string, and
could produce a sort of vibration of tone by employing the same
method as that used in playing the violin, a pressure and vibration of
the fleshy end of the finger while the note was held. The tone of the
clavichord was very delicate, and it afforded far more power of
expression than the spinet or harpsichord, which, however, were
more brilliant, and entirely superseded the weaker clavichord in
England. In Germany the clavichord has always been a favorite
instrument even into the nineteenth century. It is probable that but
few clavichords came to this country.
The piano e forte—soft and loud—was invented about 1720. The
strings of the piano are struck by hammers instead of being picked
by quills, and the force of the hammer strokes made a stronger
frame necessary than that of the spinet or harpsichord, in order to
hold the heavier strings.
Brissot de Warville wrote in 1788 that in Boston “one sometimes
hears the forte piano, though the art is in its infancy.” He then
soulfully bursts forth, “God grant that the Bostonian women may
never, like those of France, acquire the malady of perfection in this
art. It is never attained but at the expense of the domestic virtues.”
According to this the domestic virtues must be a scarce quality in
Boston at the present time.
In 1792 Messrs. Dodd & Claus, musical instrument
manufacturers, 66 Queen Street, New York, announced that “the
forte piano is become so fashionable in Europe that few polite
families are without it.” As this country kept pace with Europe in the
fashions, we can assume that the forte piano formed at the close of
the eighteenth century a part of the furniture of the polite families of
the United States.
The date of a piano can be approximately determined by its legs.
The earliest pianos had four slender legs similar to the legs of the
spinet or harpsichord. The next instruments had six legs, increased
in size and fluted or carved. Then the number was reduced to four,
and the legs were still larger, and more elaborately carved, until
1840 the ugly legs found commonly upon the square piano were the
only styles employed.
 Illus. 285.—Clementi Piano, 1805.

Illustration 285 is a fine example of an early pianoforte. Like the

spinet and clavichord, the body of the instrument is separate from
the lower frame, which is fastened together at the corners with large
screws like a bedstead. This may have been for convenience in
transportation, and it is possible that while the top containing the
works was imported, the supporting frame may have been made in
this country. There are four slender inlaid legs, and one pedal, and
under the body of the piano runs a most convenient shelf for music.
The case is of mahogany, with rows of fine inlaying in colors, having
two rows of different width around the top of the lid. The board
above the keys is of satinwood, and it has, beside the delicate frets
at each side, charmingly painted garlands of sweet peas, a flower
very popular in England at that time, about 1805. The name plate
has the inscription “Muzio Clementi & Co., Cheapside, London,” and
the number of the piano is 3653. It measures sixty-seven inches in
length, and has a compass of five and one-half octaves. There is a
line of inlaying around the inside of this piano, which is finished
carefully in every detail. The music-rack is of simple form like the
rack in Illustration 286. The music may also rest, as in the
illustration, upon the edge of the lid, when put back. This piano is
owned by the writer, who bought it in Falmouth, Massachusetts. It
was said to be the first piano brought into Falmouth, or upon the
“Cape,” and in looking at this dainty instrument, which had never left
the room in which it found its home, a hundred years ago, one can
imagine the wonder and envy of the little seaport village when a
whaling captain, after a successful voyage, gave the piano to his
daughter. Nothing could sound more quaint than a Gluck or Mozart
minuet played upon its tinkling keys.
The founder of the Astor family about 1790 to 1800 made one
branch of his business the importing of pianos, which were labelled
with his name and which are quite commonly met with. Illustration
286 shows an Astor piano owned by Mrs. Sanford Tappan of
Newburyport. The style of this piano is similar to that of the
“Clementi” in Illustration 285, but it lacks the delicate ornamentation
of the Clementi piano. In the Columbian Centinel of 1806 is an
advertisement with a woodcut of an instrument very like this.

Illus. 286.—Astor Piano, 1790-1800.

There is an Astor piano in Salem, described as having four legs in

the front, indicating that it was made as late as 1815. It had two
pedals, one being used to prolong the tones. The other pedal served
to produce a novel and taking effect, by lifting a section of the top of
the piano lid, which was then allowed to fall suddenly, the slamming
serving to imitate the firing of cannon. The young lady who owned
the piano created a great sensation by playing battle pieces with this
startling accompaniment.

Illus. 287.—Clementi Piano, about 1820.

Illustration 287 shows the change in the legs, this piano having
six legs, which are considerably larger. The piano was made by
Clementi, and is numbered 10522. It is of light mahogany, and has a
row of dark mahogany veneer around its frame. The feet and tops of
the six legs are of brass, like the handles to the three drawers, and a
brass moulding goes around the frame. The piano stool, also of
mahogany, is of a somewhat later date. This piano and stool are
owned by W. S. G. Kennedy, Esq., of Worcester. This style of piano
was in use from 1820 to 1830.
 Illus. 288.—Combination Piano, Desk, and Toilet-table, about 1800.

Illustration 288 shows one of the curious combinations which the

cabinet-makers of about 1800 seemed to be so fond of designing.
Their books have complicated drawings of tables and desks with
mechanical devices for transforming the simple-looking piece of
furniture into one full of compartments, drawers, and boxes, with
contrivances which allow surprising combinations to spring out.
Sheraton, who was a shrewd observer, said, “A fancifulness seems
most peculiar to the taste of females”; and this piece of furniture
was made, apparently, to appeal to that “fancifulness.”
 Illus. 289—Piano, about 1830.

Between the works of the piano and the cover is a tray divided
into compartments to hold toilet and writing utensils, ink-bottle,
sand-sifter, stationery, pins, and sewing-implements, and over the
keyboard rests a long tray for similar articles. These trays can be
removed when the piano is to be used. There is a front panel which
lets down, forming a writing-table, and a mirror is set in the face of
the rest that supports the lid when raised.

Illus. 290.—Peter Erben Piano, 1826-1827.

 Thus the lady for whom all this was designed, after using it as a
dressing-table, could play the piano and look at her own pretty face
in the mirror while she played and sang. This combination of piano,
dressing-table, and writing-desk is owned by the Rev. James H.
Darlington, D.D., of Brooklyn, New York.
In 1829 the manufacture of pianofortes had increased so that
during that year twenty-five hundred pianos were made in the
United States, chiefly in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston.
The piano in Illustration 289 belongs to Mrs. Ada Grisier of
Auburn, Indiana, and is an unusually fine specimen of the six-legged
piano fashionable about 1830. The case is of mahogany and is inlaid
with lines of brass, while around the body run two rows, of different
width, of brass moulding. The legs are large, and elaborately carved,
and are set in brass standards. On each corner of the frame is a
design in gilt. There is one wooden pedal, and the range of the
piano is five and one-half octaves. The name of the maker has been
obliterated.
The piano in Illustration 290 is owned by Mrs. Louis M. Priest of
Salem, New York. The body is of rosewood inlaid with brass, the lid
being of mahogany, like the elaborately carved trestle-shaped
supports. It has two drawers for holding music, and one pedal, the
standard for which is a carved lyre with a mirror behind its strings.
The keyboard has a range of six octaves. The name upon the front is
Peter Erben, 103 Pump St., New York. Peter Erben was a music-
teacher whose address from 1826 to 1827 was 103 Pump Street,
which determines the date of this piano. The writer knows of four
pianos with the carved mahogany trestle-supports, all with the name
of Peter Erben as maker, though it is probable that, like modern
pianos, the works were bought, and whoever wished might have his
name upon the name-plate, since Peter Erben is in the New York
directories for thirty years as “Musick teacher” or “Professor of
musick” only.
The piano-stool in Illustration 291 was made to use with the
piano in Illustration 290. The wide spread to the three feet gives the
effect of a table base, but there is no doubt that this was made
 originally to use for a piano-stool. The little
weather-beaten house, in which the piano
and stool had always stood, possesses a
ghost story of a young girl who was starved
to death by her miser brother, and who was
said to haunt the house. This piano and
stool give the impression of the reverse of a
miser, and the poor ghost must have been
before their day. The stool is now owned by
the writer, but is neither practical nor
comfortable, the feet being much in the
Illus. 291.—Piano-stool,
1820-1830. way.
Illustration 292 shows a piano of most
elaborate design, made about 1826. There is no maker’s name upon
the piano. The frame is of mahogany and has a brass moulding
around the body, and brass rosette handles to the drawers. Around
each square carved panel upon the front legs is a brass beading, and
the lions’ claws on the front legs and the sockets upon the back legs
are of brass.

Illus. 292.—Piano, 1826.

 The front legs are elaborately carved like table bases, and the
three pedals have a support that is a cross between a lyre and a
wreath. The keyboard has six octaves, and the music-rack is very
simple.
Illustration 293 shows two piano-stools made between 1825 and
1830. The stool with four fluted legs was sold with a piano made by
Wood, Small, & Co., of London, which has six legs fluted in the same
manner. The other stool has a base like the claw-and-pillar table,
and the sides of the seat are carved dolphins, whose tails turn up
and support a carved rail to form a low back for the seat. This stool
belongs to the writer.

Illus. 293.—Piano-stools, 1825-1830.

The “table piano” in Illustration 294 is marked as being made by

John Charters, Xenia, Ohio, which alone would attract attention,
aside from the curious construction of the base, which places the
date of the piano about 1835. The pedals are quite concealed as one
stands by this piano, and the whole design is clumsy and poor. The
music-rack seems to have remained unchanged for many years, and
from the earliest piano shown, made in 1800, until the large square
piano of 1840, the music-rack is the same, simply constructed of
four pieces of wood which are put together with pivots, so that by
pushing one end of the top piece they all slide and fold down
together, in order that the piano may be closed.

Illus. 294.—Table Piano, about 1835.

Illustration 295 shows a Chickering piano made in 1833, of a

design entirely different from the other pianos shown, and of great
elegance and richness. The mahogany case is inlaid with the heavy
bands of plain brass, and the legs are pillars with Ionic capitals. The
music-rack is of the same simple form as the one upon the
preceding piano, and the one pedal is fastened into a lyre-shaped
support.
 Illus. 295.—Chickering Piano, 1833.

Illustration 296 shows a music-stand made about 1835, owned

by Mrs. John D. Wing, of Millbrook, New York. The rest for the music
is of the favorite lyre shape, which seems especially adapted to this
purpose. The stand is of mahogany and is very pretty and graceful.
Illustration 297 shows a music-stand owned by Dwight Blaney,
Esq., of Boston. It is of mahogany, and its date is about 1835. The
upper part with the music-rest can be lowered or raised, and is held
in place by pins thrust through the small holes in the supports. The
stand is somewhat heavy in effect, but very firm and secure.
 Illus. 296.—Music-stand, Illus. 297.—Music-stand,
about 1835. about 1835.

Illustration 298 shows a dulcimer which is in the Deerfield

Museum. It has an extremely plain case, and must have been, when
new, an inexpensive instrument. The dulcimer of early times was a
small, triangular-shaped instrument, to be laid upon a table. Above
the sounding-board were stretched wire strings, which were struck
with small hammers held in the hand, and doubtless the piano was
first suggested by the dulcimer and its hammers.
 Illus. 298.—Dulcimer, 1820-1830.

The heads of the hammers were covered with hard and soft
leather to give a loud or soft tone. The instrument in the illustration
was probably made from 1820 to 1830, during which time the
dulcimer was quite popular, especially in the country, where the
piano was too costly a luxury.
Music-books were published for the dulcimer, and it retained
some popularity in country villages until ousted by the melodeon.
Illustration 299 shows a set of musical glasses called a
harmonica. The fine ladies in “The Vicar of Wakefield” would talk of
nothing but “pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.”
This was in 1761, and the musical glasses were fashionable before
that, for Gluck in 1746 played “a concerto on twenty-six drinking
glasses, tuned with spring water.” Franklin invented an instrument
for the musical glasses, which he called the Armonica, for which
famous composers wrote music, and in which the glasses were
arranged upon a rod which turned
with a crank, while below was a
trough of water which moistened the
glasses as they dipped into it.
There is
a Franklin
Armonica in
the
Metropolitan
Museum of
Art in the
Brown
collection. In
Watson’s Illus. 299.—Harmonica, or
Musical Glasses, about 1820.
“Annals” is a
description
of a visit to Franklin in Paris. It says: “He
conducted me across the room to an
instrument of his own invention which he
Illus. 300.—Music-stand,
called the ‘Armonica.’ The music was
1805. produced by a peculiar combination of
hemispherical glasses. He played upon it
and performed some Scotch pastorales with great effect. The
exhibition was truly striking.”
The box in Illustration 299 holds twenty-four glasses, which,
when used, are filled with water, and are tuned by the amount in
each glass. The finger is dipped in the water and rubbed on the
edge of the glass, producing a sound of penetrating tone. The stand
and box in this illustration are of mahogany, and make an
ornamental piece of furniture.
A stand for music is shown in Illustration 300, owned by J. J.
Gilbert, Esq., of Baltimore. It is elegant in design and possesses also
the very desirable merit in a rest for music, of standing firmly upon
its four lion’s claw feet, with the heavy turned and reeded post to
support the top and the lyre-shaped music rack.
 Illus. 301.—Music-stand, 1800-1820.

The mahogany case for music books in Illustration 301 is owned

by Dwight M. Prouty, Esq. It has a drawer for sheet music and a
shelf below, beside the five compartments for books, with the lyre-
shaped divisions of solid wood, and the ends open, with lyre strings
of wood.
Illustration 302 shows a harp-shaped piano, made by André
Stein, d’Augsburg. It is owned by B. J. Lang, Esq., of Boston, and
was made about 1800. Pianos of this style are occasionally found in
this country. The shape of the top shows how the strings run, the
 effect being similar to a
grand piano stood upon
its end. The silk
draperies are the original
ones, and are faded from
red to a soft dead leaf
color, which is most
artistic and harmonious.
The six pedals are
supposed to produce
different effects to
correspond with the
following names: fagotti,
piano, forte, pianissimo,
triangle, cinelle.
The upright piano,
known then as a cottage
Illus. 302.—Harp-shaped Piano, about 1800. piano, was invented in
1800. Illustration 303
shows a small upright piano said to have belonged to Lady Morgan,
the “wild Irish girl.” The case is an exquisite example of the work of
an English cabinet-maker, from 1800 to 1810, and may have been
that of Sheraton himself. The lower panels are of satinwood, with
the frame and the oval piece in the centre of mahogany, outlined
with ebony and white holly.
 Illus. 303.—Cottage Piano, or Upright, about 1800-1810.

The upper middle panel is filled with a sunburst made of pleated

silk. The side-panels are of satinwood, framed in bird’s-eye maple,
outlined with mahogany, and the ovals in the centres are of
mahogany, with fine lines of ebony and white holly. Altogether, it is
as dainty an instrument as any lady could wish for her boudoir.
Illustration 304 shows a Chickering upright piano made in 1830.
The frame is of mahogany, and the front of the upper part is filled
with a sunburst made of pleated silk, from which this style of piano
was sometimes called a sunburst piano.
A very beautiful and ornamental piano is shown in Illustration
305, owned by James H. Darlington, D.D., of Brooklyn, New York.
 The body of the piano is made of
rosewood. The strings are arranged
like those in a grand piano, but the
sounding-board extends only the
distance of the piano body; above
that the strings are exposed like
those of a harp. The wooden frame
upon which the wires are strung is
supported by a post of wood
elaborately carved and gilded. The
keyboard has a range of seven
octaves. Upon the inside of the cover
is the inscription “New York Piano
Illus. 304.—Chickering Upright Company—Kohn patent.”
Piano, 1830.
 Illus. 305.—Piano, about 1840.

The story is that a piano-maker in New York vowed he would

make the most beautiful piano in the world. One like this was the
result, and it was bought by A. T. Stewart, at that time, about 1840,
the merchant prince of New York. Six others were made like the
original piano, and they are scattered over the country, one being in
the Brown collection of musical instruments in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art.
 Illus. 306.—Hawkey Square Piano, about 1845.

Illustration 306 shows the form in which the square piano was
finally made, and which, with few variations, continued fashionable
until the introduction of the present style of upright pianos, since
when there have been practically no square pianos manufactured.
This piano was made by Henry Hawkey of New York, about 1845,
and it is noteworthy because the keys are made of mother-of-pearl,
and the scrolls above the keyboard are inlaid in mother-of-pearl. The
case is covered with rosewood veneering, and the legs are large and
clumsy. The music-rack and pedal support are similar in style to
those now in use.
Proficiency upon the piano and spinet would appear to have
comprised the chief accomplishments in instrumental music of the
young ladies of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as far
as we can judge by mention of such accomplishments. But it seems
reasonable to suppose that where a few English ladies employed
their fair hands upon the harp, there were not lacking a similar
number of Americans who also appreciated the opportunity which
that classic instrument affords of displaying the grace and beauty of
a rounded arm and wrist. Even in our own day, the list of those who
play the harp is restricted, and it
must have been the same in early
days, hence the lack of allusions to
the harp. When Lady Morgan, the
“wild Irish girl,” was creating such a
sensation in London with her harp-
playing, it is certain that she had
imitators in this country.
Christopher Columbus Baldwin, in
his diary of 1832, speaks of Madam
Papanti, who at that time lived in
Worcester with her husband, the
famous dancing-teacher. She gave
music lessons, possibly upon the
harp, for Mr. Baldwin tells of her
playing that instrument upon
Sundays at Dr. Bancroft’s church,
while her husband played the French
horn, “which, with two flutes, a base
viol, and violin, make very good
musick.” Illus. 307.—Harp, 1780-1790.
Illustration 307 shows a very
beautiful harp made previous to 1800, belonging to Mrs. Reed
Lawton of Worcester. In construction it is not very different from the
modern harp, although considerably smaller. It is exquisitely carved,
and instead of being gilded is painted in colors, and finished with a
varnish like the vernis martin, the general effect being a golden
brown. The harp which Marie Antoinette played upon is still
preserved, and is very like this one.
 CHAPTER X

FIRES AND LIGHTS

W
HEN wood was plentiful and easily
gathered, the fireplace was built
of generous proportions. At the
back, lying in the ashes, was the
backlog, sometimes so huge that a chain
was attached to it, and it was dragged in by
a horse. The forestick rested upon the
andirons, and small sticks filled the space
between backlog and forestick. In the wall
beside the fireplace was built the brick
oven, in which the baking was done. Upon
baking day a wood fire was made inside this
oven, and when the oven was thoroughly
heated, the coals were removed, and the
bread placed upon the oven bottom to bake
leisurely. The tin kitchen was set before the
fire, and pies and bread upon its shelves
were cooked by the heat reflected and
radiated from the tin hood.
 Illustration 308 shows a great kitchen fireplace in the Lee
mansion in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with the tin kitchens in front
of the fire, and the kettles and pots hanging over it, and the various
kitchen utensils around it.
Fire-dogs or andirons are mentioned in the earliest inventories.
The name “fire-dogs” came from the heads of animals with which
the irons were ornamented. “Andirons” is a word corrupted from
“hand irons,” although some inventories speak of end-irons. Kitchen
andirons were of iron similar to the ones in Illustration 316, but for
the other fireplaces they were made of steel, copper, or brass, and in
England even of silver.

Illus. 308.—Kitchen Fireplace in Lee Mansion, 1760.

Illustration 309 shows a pair of andirons,

with shovel and tongs, owned by Francis H.
Bigelow, Esq. The andirons are “rights and
lefts,” and have the brass knobs to prevent
the forestick from falling forward. Illustration
310 shows another pair belonging to Mr.
Bigelow, with claw-and-ball feet and the
twisted flame top. These are given as good
examples of the best styles of andirons in Illus. 309.—Andirons,
use in well-to-do households in America Eighteenth Century.
during the seventeenth century.
Illustration 311 shows a pair of “Hessians”
made of iron. Andirons of this style were very
popular immediately after the Revolutionary
War, the figures of the hated allies of the
British thus receiving the treatment with flame
Illus. 310.—Andirons, and ashes that Americans considered the
Eighteenth Century. originals to merit, to say nothing of worse
indignities cast upon them by
the circle of tobacco-smoking
patriots.
Andirons were made of
different heights, and
sometimes two or more sets
were used in one fireplace, to
hold larger and smaller sticks.
Illus. 311.—“Hessian” Andirons, 1776. Creepers are mentioned in
early inventories. They were
low irons placed between the andirons, to hold short sticks.
As wood grew less plentiful, and as the forests near by were
cleared away, it was not so easy to obtain the huge backlog and the
great pile of sticks to fill the generous fireplace, and by the middle of
the eighteenth century its size had diminished. Many of the larger
ones were partially filled in. The fireplace in the Ipswich Whipple
house, when the house was bought by the society which now owns
it, had been bricked in twice—once to make the space less, and the
second time to fill it in entirely and put a fire-frame in its place.
Chimneys which did not smoke were the exception until Count
Rumford made his researches in heat and light, and by his
discoveries and improvements in construction enabled our ancestors
to have chimneys which did not smoke, and which did not carry up
the greater portion of the heat from the fire.
 Illus. 312.—Fireplace, 1770-1775.

Illustration 312 shows a fireplace in Salem of about 1775, with

ball-topped andirons. The sets for the fireplace comprised the
andirons, shovel, and tongs. The poker never accompanied the older
sets, which were made before the use of coal as fuel had become
common in this country, but a pair of bellows generally formed a
part of the equipment of the fireplace.
Illustration 313 shows a
fireplace in the residence of
Harry Harkness Flagler, Esq.,
with a brass fender and a pair
of “steeple-topped” andirons.
Illus. 313.—Steeple-topped Andirons Fenders were used in England
and Fender, 1775-1790. earlier than in this country, to
keep the sticks or coals of fire
from rolling or flying out upon the floor in front of the fireplace, and
to prevent children from getting into the fire. Their size was adapted
to the reduced dimensions of the fireplaces, and they were used
more with coal fires than with wood.
The design of andirons most commonly found is shown in
Illustration 314. The little andirons between the larger ones are
“creepers,” and are used to hold short pieces of wood. They are of
the same design as the larger pair, although they were bought
several years, and hundreds of miles, apart.
The fender in Illustration 314 is of wire, painted black, with the
top rail and balls of brass. The andirons and fender belong to the
writer.

Illus. 314.—Andirons, Creepers, and Fender, 1700-1800.

Judge Sewall ordered in 1719 for his daughter Judith, about to

be married, “a bell-metal skillet, a warming pan, four pairs of brass
headed iron dogs, a brass hearth for a chamber with dogs, tongs,
shovel and fender of the newest fashion (the fire to lie on the iron),
a brass mortar, four pairs of brass candlesticks, four brass snuffers
with stands, six small brass chafing dishes, two brass basting ladles,
a pair of bellows with brass nose, a small hair broom, a dozen
pewter porringers, a dozen small glass salt cellars, and a dozen good
ivory hafted knives and forks.”
The appurtenances for the fireplace in this list comprise the
fender, shovel, tongs, broom, bellows, and the “dogs.”
 Illustration 315 shows a pair of brass
andirons and Illustration 316, a set of
“brass-headed iron dogs,” such as Sewall
ordered. Both pairs belong to Dwight M.
Prouty, Esq, of Boston.
By 1650 the use of coal had become
common in England from the scarcity
and expense of wood as a fuel, and from
that time fireplaces in that country were
constructed for coal fires. The books of
Illus. 315.—Brass Andirons, designs of the eighteenth century show
1700-1800.
many and elaborate drawings of grates
for coal. In this country, however, the lack of wood has never been
felt, and the fireplace to burn wood has held its own, with its
andirons, not so generous as in the early days, but still of goodly
size.
Firebacks were made of
iron for fireplaces, sometimes
cast with the coat-of-arms of
the owner or the date of
construction. In Pennsylvania
were famous iron workers,
and there is a collection of iron
firebacks in the museum at
Memorial Hall, Philadelphia. At
Mount Vernon is a fireback
with the Fairfax coat-of-arms Illus. 316.—Brass-headed Iron Dogs,
1700-1800.
which Washington took from
Belvoir, the estate of Lord Fairfax, adjoining Mount Vernon.
Illustration 317 shows a chimney piece in the west parlor at
Mount Vernon. Washington’s coat-of-arms is carved at the top, and
his crest and initials are cast in the fireback. In the panel over the
mantel is a painting which was sent to Lawrence Washington in
1743, by Admiral Vernon, in acknowledgment of the courtesy shown
by Lawrence Washington to his old commander, in naming the estate
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