Travelling harpsichord

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, large instruments such as the harpsichord suffered when being transported over long distances. Jean Marius’ invention at the beginning of the eighteenth century of a genuine travelling or folding harpsichord addressed this problem. As a productive designer, he has various inventions to his name: a portable organ, a hammered harpsichord, a bowed keyboard instrument, as well as an umbrella, a folding tent, a water-pump and even a new type of candle. However, his competitors had serious doubts about him being the inventor of the travelling harpsichord and the hammered harpsichord and took the matter to court.

The sound-box of this instrument consists of three separate sections that fold up into a rectangular case. The keys of the keyboard are also divided into three series, each sliding into the casing. However, this technical ingenuity has a disadvantage in that dividing the sound-box into three sections brings with it a loss of the instrument’s homogenous timbre.