Dutch Louis XVI trophy of musical instruments 

Here we have a bundle of musical instruments, including a harp, violin, flutes, a trumpet, and a horn, bound with a tasseled rope and hung from a ribbon, with the addition of floral and leaf motifs. The carving is mounted on an oval panel, covered in dark blue velvet.

A related composition of musical attributes is known, horizontal rather than vertical in orientation, considerably smaller, and sadly no longer gilded. This fragment is also mounted on a wooden panel, and on the back, annotated “Gebouw Felix Meritus Anno 1789”. Without a doubt these carvings were made for the music room.

The Felix Meritus society building in Amsterdam is among the finest examples of Dutch Neoclassical architecture, intended to provide space for the contemplation and practice of art and science. The building was constructed between 1787 to 1789 on the Keizersgracht canal. Designed by Jacob Otten Husly. He was born in 1738 in Doetinchem and buried in 1796 in Ijsselmuiden, near Kampen. Otten Husly was born into a family of stucco workers, who were strongly interested in interior decoration. He was also closely involved in the construction of the interior of the town hall in Weesp.

In 1761 Otten Husly undertook a study journey to Paris. It is known that he owned an edition of the printed oeuvre of the French designer Jean-Charles Delafosse (b. 1734; d. 1791), which formed the source of inspiration for these musical attributes.

The Felix Meritus building has seen major renovations over the course of time, during which many architectural elements and furnishings were removed and dispersed, including these carvings. The Rijksmuseum has a number of pieces of furniture from Felix Meritus in its collections, including a cartel clock, a standing lyre-shaped clock and the mahogany lectern.

Both the smaller and the larger carvings with musical attributes were removed during the 1960s, and ended up in the art trade.

Literature: Delft, 1969, 21 Art Fair’s Catalogue: page 38.