Regal Parlor Organ

Helen Clay Frick purchased this extraordinary marquetry organ in 1967. The ébéniste (cabinetmaker) was a German, Jean-Pierre Latz (c. 1691-1754), who came to Paris in 1721 and became by 1738, "Privileged Cabinet Maker to the King." Latz's business prospered throughout the 1740s. It is thought that this organ was made for Marie Louise Elisabeth (1727-1759), daughter of King Louis XV and Queen Marie Leszczynska (whose portrait is also at The Frick Art Museum). She was one of Latz's regular patrons, as were the Kings of Prussia and Poland.