Single-action Harp - Image 1

Classical harps, such as this one, dating from the time of Haydn and Mozart, were associated with young women and often took a place of pride in the drawing rooms of Paris, a city that, at the time, was seen by many to be the cultural capital of the civilized world, despite the recent excesses of the French Revolution and the turbulent years that followed, until Napoleon brought stability to the country. This harp has 38 strings and a single-action pedal mechanism with crochettes. Similar in principle to the double-action mechanism still used in modern harps, the single-action mechanism is comprised of a complicated series of levers that run from the seven pedals, through the column of the harp, to the tuning pins at the top of the instrument. Carved and gilded, this late-18th-century harp features chinoiserie decoration and a painted soundboard.