Spinet

Description

The spinet, an early member of the keyboard family with harpsichords and virginals, has 61 ebony and ivory keys within a hinged, covered keyboard and a diagonal walnut wood case enclosing layers of strings all supported by a stand with four, baluster turned legs. The walnut-veneered nameboard is inlaid with banding that encloses the maker's name, location, and instrument number "Johannes Hitchcock fecit Londini 1520" in calligraphic script. Although made in London between 1750-53, this instrument has a tradition of ownership in New England, possibly in the DeWolf and Perry families during the nineteenth century.