• Author: Dodds & Claus
• Date: 1793
• Collection: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
• Material: Conifer and maple wood
• Inventory: Inv. Cherubini 1988/76

This instrument is a hybrid invented at the end of the 18th century and consists of an English guitar body, with its typical teardrop-shaped case, and a mechanism operated by six ivory-covered keys. These activated an equal number of small hammers inside the case, which struck the six strings through the holes made in the soundboard.

This system, which was patented in London in 1783, protected the fingertips of girls from good families since the strings were not plucked with the fingers but struck by pressing the keys on the soundboard. It was remarkably successful initially since it was easy to play and perfect for complementing vocal performances.

In just a few years, however, its fate was sealed with the advent of a more affordable version that proliferated in bawdy houses, to the point of becoming a symbol. Because of its associations, the Keyed English guitar became a socially unacceptable instrument and quickly disappeared from use.