Sébastien Erard

(1752 - 1831)

maple case, front element highlighted in gold, created as a column with capital decorated as a tabernacle with musician angels; along the stem geometric friezes of neo-Gothic style, on a shaped base decorated at the ends with winged zoomorphic figures, some defects

h 176x100x5 cm

To be retired in a villa in Florence, Pian dei Giullari area Operation to be verified On the brass band it bears the inscriptions: "Erard par patent d'invention 1773" / "Erard Facteur de Pianos et Harpes - 13-21 Rue de Mail, Paris" Sebastian Erard was born in Strasbourg on 5 April 1752 and died in Passy on 5 August 1831. Coming from a family of German origins, upon the death of his father he moved to Paris where he dedicated himself to the construction of harpsichords, protected by Louis XVI who granted him a special license. In 1777 he built his first piano, the first to be built in France. Together with his brother Jean-Baptiste he is considered the most important harp maker of the 19th century, bringing them to a level of perfection that has not yet been surpassed to this day. Sebastian Erard, in fact, made the harp go from a simple movement to a double movement. Jean-Baptiste had a son, Pierre (1794-1855), who joined his uncle in London in 1814, and after his departure in 1815 he took over the management of the factory. Pierre Erard managed the family business until his death in 1855.