Glass Harmonica with 25 Glasses in Wooden Case

Object Name: 
Glass Harmonica with 25 Glasses in Wooden Case

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Object Name: 
Glass Harmonica with 25 Glasses in Wooden Case
Place Made: 
Accession Number: 
60.2.38
Dimensions: 
Wooden Case, Closed: H: 29 cm, W: 79 cm, D: 42 cm
Location: 
On Display
Date: 
about 1810-1830
Primary Description: 
Colorless lead glass, wood; blown, ground, painted; assembled in a wooden case. Rectangular mahogany-veneered wooden case with flat top, sides, and bottom; shallow, hinged lid; two stamped handle plates with loose ring handles at either side; hinged wooden bar holding the lid and base; sixteen globular bowls on solid glass peg-stems with rough pontil marks on the ends; the pegs set into a wooden board; the bowls inscribed in black paint and gold leaf (front row to back, left to right), "C# / D# / [E#] / F# / [second row] C# / B / A / G# / [third row] D / D# / F# / G# / [back row] E / C# / B / A" and inscribed with the same notations in tiny diamond-point marks on the undersides of the bowls, where the peg stem meets the bowl; several bowls have horizontal scratches below the black and gold ovals.