Harp signed Sébastien Erard (1752-1831) in carved wood. Empire period

Harp signed Sébastien Erard (1752-1831) in carved wood. Empire period. In operating condition. Sébastien Érard was born in Strasbourg, Alsace, on April 5, 17521. He was the son of a cabinetmaker from Strasbourg. He lost his father at age 6 and began working in his cabinetmaking workshop and took drawing, geometry and architecture lessons from the age of 8. He is said to have been in contact in Strasbourg with members of the Silbermann keyboard instrument makers dynasty. He arrived in Paris in 1768, where he was first employed by a harpsichord maker and then set up his first studio in the mansion of the Duchess Jeanne Louise Constance d'Aumont de Villequier Villeroy rue de l'Université. He met Queen Marie-Antoinette during a walk in Passy near the Château de la Muette where the royal couple stayed shortly after their accession to the throne in 17743. In 1779 he built a harpsichord with a mobile keyboard allowing them to be mounted or played. lower the chord by a semitone presented to Marie-Antoinette. He founded his company in association with his elder brother Jean-Baptiste and established himself in rue de Bourbon, now rue de Lille then 13 rue du Mail in 1781. The quality of his products aroused the jealousy of his competitors who threatened him with seizure in reason that his company would not be registered in the corporation of fan makers of which the luthiers belonged. King Louis XVI protects him with a patent of 1785 freeing him from corporate regulations.