{"id":15586,"date":"2022-03-15T11:32:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T10:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vichy-encheres.com\/?p=15586"},"modified":"2022-04-28T17:58:34","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:58:34","slug":"piano-mercken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vichy-encheres.com\/en\/2022\/03\/15\/piano-mercken\/","title":{"rendered":"Une \u0153uvre de jeunesse de J.-K. Mercken : le plus vieux piano de France ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Quel est le plus vieux piano r\u00e9alis\u00e9 en France ? C\u2019est \u00e0 cette question que la d\u00e9couverte d\u2019un instrument in\u00e9dit de Jean-Kilien Mercken (1743-1819) nous invite \u00e0 r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir. Inconnu jusque-l\u00e0, ce \u201cpianoforte en forme de clavecin\u201d – ainsi qu\u2019on appelait les pianos \u00e0 queue avant le XIX\u00e8me si\u00e8cle – remet en perspective l\u2019histoire de la facture fran\u00e7aise de pianos et vient \u00e9clairer un autre pan de la production de Mercken, uniquement connu pour ses pianofortes carr\u00e9s. Vichy Ench\u00e8res vous propose de lever le voile sur ce mod\u00e8le \u00e9nigmatique – probablement le premier piano \u00e0 queue fran\u00e7ais -, \u00e0 la lumi\u00e8re de l\u2019histoire de l\u2019\u00e9mergence de l\u2019instrument au XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Etude d\u00e9taill\u00e9e de notre expert, Christopher Clarke<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Croquis de la structure<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Catalogue<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Vente du 06 mai sur Interencheres<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Vente du 07 mai sur Interencheres<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Contact<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Experts<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
English version<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Le plus vieux piano \u00e0 queue de France ?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/figure>\n
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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L\u2019invention du pianoforte en Italie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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De la famille des instruments \u00e0 cordes et \u00e0 clavier, le piano est en quelque sorte la m\u00e9canisation du tympanon, <\/strong>instrument \u00e0 cordes frapp\u00e9es<\/a>, ce qui lui permet une expression dynamique, impossible avec des cordes pinc\u00e9es. Son cousin le clavicorde, dont les cordes sont excit\u00e9es \u00e0 leur extr\u00e9mit\u00e9 par des lames m\u00e9talliques appel\u00e9es \u201ctangentes\u201d, poss\u00e8de d\u00e9j\u00e0 des possibilit\u00e9s dynamiques mais son faible volume sonore ne lui permet pas la concurrence d\u2019autres instruments. C\u2019est autour de 1700, \u00e0 Florence, que l\u2019instrument naquit dans l\u2019atelier de Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731). Alors au service du prince Ferdinand de M\u00e9dicis, Cristofori inventa le m\u00e9canisme du pianoforte dont allait h\u00e9riter le piano moderne. Ce m\u00e9canisme repose sur des cordes frapp\u00e9es par des marteaux recouverts de peau reli\u00e9s \u00e0 la touche, et sur un syst\u00e8me d\u2019\u00e9chappement permettant au marteau de retomber loin apr\u00e8s avoir frapp\u00e9 les cordes, plut\u00f4t que de rester pr\u00e8s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ces nouveaut\u00e9s furent d\u00e9cisives puisqu\u2019elles permirent de passer graduellement de la nuance piano <\/em>\u00e0 forte<\/em>, d\u2019o\u00f9 l\u2019appellation pianoforte<\/em>. Dans une inventaire de 1700, les premiers pianofortes de Cristofori sont qualifi\u00e9s par le terme \u201carpicembalo\u201d (ou \u201charpe-clavecin\u201d) car ces derniers sonnaient comme la harpe. En 1711, Scipione Maffei publia un article dans le Giornale de\u2019 letterati d\u2019Italia <\/em>d\u00e9crivant un \u201cGravicembalo [grand clavecin] col piano, e forte\u201d et diffusant le dessin de sa m\u00e9canique. Cristofori le perfectionna dans les ann\u00e9es 1720 et ce mod\u00e8le rencontra un certain succ\u00e8s en Italie et \u00e9galement au Portugal et en Espagne, o\u00f9 il fut introduit par Domenico Scarlatti et Carlo Brosi, dit Farinelli. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Le<\/a>
Le piano Cristofori de 1722 est au Mus\u00e9e national des instruments de musique, \u00e0 Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Anton<\/a>
Anton Domenico Gabbiani, I_musicisti_del_principe_Ferdinando_de’_Medici_-_Gabbiani, Palazzo Pitti,Galleria Palatina, Florence, vers 1685<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731), 1726<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"La<\/a>
La piazza della Signoria de Florence, peinture \u00e0 l’huile du xviiie si\u00e8cle par Giuseppe Zocchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Sa diffusion en Saxe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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C\u2019est en Saxe que s\u2019op\u00e9ra r\u00e9ellement la diffusion et le d\u00e9veloppement du nouvel instrument. En 1705, Pantaleon Hebenstreit (1668-1750) fabriqua un tympanon g\u00e9ant qu\u2019il pr\u00e9senta \u00e0 la cour de Louis XIV.  Les auditeurs furent \u00e9blouis par la vari\u00e9t\u00e9 des sons produits avec les marteaux soit en bois dur, soit garnis de laine, et surtout par l\u2019effet de r\u00e9sonance des cordes non \u00e9touff\u00e9es. Le roi, non moins charm\u00e9, d\u00e9cida de nommer l\u2019instrument \u201cPantalon\u201d en l\u2019honneur de son inventeur. Simultan\u00e9ment, l\u2019allemand Christopher Schr\u00f6ter construisit en 1717 deux mod\u00e8les inachev\u00e9s de pianos \u00e0 m\u00e9canique \u00e0 marteaux et en pr\u00e9senta \u00e0 la cour de Saxe en 1721. L\u2019anc\u00eatre du piano moderne fut r\u00e9ellement diffus\u00e9 par des facteurs d\u2019orgues allemands (qui construisaient \u00e9galement clavecins et clavicordes), dont le plus c\u00e9l\u00e8bre est Gottfried Silbermann (1683-1753). C\u2019est \u00e0 lui que s\u2019adressa Hebenstreit pour la fabrication exclusive de ses \u201cPantalons\u201d et parall\u00e8lement, Silbermann eut l\u2019id\u00e9e de construire quelques pianofortes en forme de clavecin, probablement munis de m\u00e9caniques bas\u00e9es sur le dessin de Cristofori – publi\u00e9 en Allemagne en 1725.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Johann Sebastien Bach les essaya mais les jugea trop lourds et lents, ce qui encouragea Silbermann \u00e0 changer la m\u00e9canique et \u00e0 introduire des manettes pour lever les \u00e9touffoirs, afin de produire un effet proche de celui tant appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 du \u201cpantalon\u201d. Ce mod\u00e8le re\u00e7ut l\u2019approbation de Bach et fut offert en 1746 en quatre exemplaires au roi Frederick, \u00e0 Potsdam. Gottfried Silbermann sera longtemps consid\u00e9r\u00e9 comme l\u2019inventeur du piano-forte et plus tard, son neveu Johann Heinrich Silbermann, install\u00e9 aux c\u00f4t\u00e9s de son fr\u00e8re Johann Andreas \u00e0 Strasbourg, reprendra l\u2019essentiel de ce mod\u00e8le. En parall\u00e8le des travaux des Silbermann, ax\u00e9s sur le piano en forme de clavecin dans la tradition de Cristofori, d\u2019autres facteurs d\u2019orgues s\u2019inspir\u00e8rent des timbres du \u201cpantalon\u201d et fabriqu\u00e8rent des instruments \u00e9mettant un \u201carc-en-ciel sonore\u201d \u00e0 l\u2019aide de marteaux en bois dur ou garnis de peau.  Jugeant la m\u00e9canique \u00e0 \u00e9chappement trop lourde et trop lente, ils firent des m\u00e9caniques sans \u00e9chappement, certes moins riches en nuances, mais extr\u00eamement rapides. Vers 1758, un \u00e9l\u00e8ve de Gottfried Silbermann, Christian Ernst Friederici (1709-1780) eut l\u2019id\u00e9e de combiner les possibilit\u00e9s du pantalon avec la forme du clavicorde et nomma cet instrument le \u201cFortbien\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"M\u00e9canique<\/a>
M\u00e9canique de pianoforte Schr\u00f6ter, 1721, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Orgue<\/a>
Orgue de la Cath\u00e9drale de la Sainte-Trinit\u00e9 de Dresde construit par Johann Gottfried Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano Gottfried Silbermann (1746) de Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Le plus ancien piano \u00e0 queue fran\u00e7ais ?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Contrairement aux facteurs allemands, rompus aux claviers expressifs et aux timbres vari\u00e9s, les facteurs fran\u00e7ais furent moins polyvalents et innovants et rest\u00e8rent tr\u00e8s attach\u00e9s \u00e0 la production de clavecins et \u00e9pinettes durant les trois premiers tiers du XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle. Le clavicorde demeura inconnu en France. Notons toutefois qu\u2019en 1716, le facteur Jean Marius pr\u00e9senta \u00e0 l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences de Paris quatre instruments au m\u00e9canisme substituant les marteaux aux sautereaux, qu\u2019il appella \u201cclavecins \u00e0 maillets\u201d – mais qu\u2019il ne fit pas construire faute d\u2019appartenir \u00e0 la Communaut\u00e9 des Ma\u00eetres Faiseurs d\u2019Instruments de Musique. Ainsi, en France, lorsque l\u2019on souhaitait se procurer un pianoforte, on faisait appel aux facteurs allemands et alsaciens pour les mod\u00e8les en forme de clavecin, et \u00e0 partir de 1765, aux Anglais pour ceux carr\u00e9s. A contrario, les facteurs de pianofortes produisant en France, \u00e0 l\u2019image de Mercken, \u00e9taient particuli\u00e8rement rares. De ce fait, le plus vieux piano \u00e0 queue conserv\u00e9 en France, au Mus\u00e9e de la musique, n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 en France mais provient de Suisse o\u00f9 il a \u00e9t\u00e9 fabriqu\u00e9 en 1763 par Johann Ludwig Hellen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Comme l\u2019indiquent Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber dans l\u2019ouvrage de r\u00e9f\u00e9rence sur Mercken, le premier pianoforte connu construit \u00e0 Paris est un mod\u00e8le carr\u00e9 de Mercken dat\u00e9 de 1770 et conserv\u00e9 au Conservatoire National des Arts et M\u00e9tiers de Paris. L\u00e9on Pillaut \u00e9crivait d\u00e8s 1889 dans le catalogue de l\u2019Exposition universelle :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le plus vieux piano est un fran\u00e7ais de Mercken (Paris 1770) ; il est d\u2019une facture tr\u00e8s soign\u00e9e et tr\u00e8s \u00e9l\u00e9gante.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

La d\u00e9couverte de ce pianoforte en forme de clavecin vient remettre les choses en perspective, puisque ce nouvel instrument a tr\u00e8s certainement \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 avant celui des Arts et M\u00e9tiers, vers 1767-68. Il serait donc le plus ancien piano \u00e0 queue fran\u00e7ais parvenu jusqu’\u00e0 nous. C\u2019est \u00e9galement le seul instrument connu de Mercken qui \u00e9pouse cette forme de clavecin. Mis \u00e0 part ce piano \u00e0 queue, peu d\u2019autres mod\u00e8les fran\u00e7ais de cette \u00e9poque nous sont connus. Pascal Taskin en r\u00e9alisa plusieurs qu\u2019il pr\u00e9senta \u00e0 l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences, mais seulement entre 1776 et 1791.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Marius,<\/a>
Marius, clavecin \u00e0 maillets, 1716, Machines et inventions approuv\u00e9es par l’Acad\u00e9mie royale des sciences, 1713-1719<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Marius, clavecin \u00e0 maillets, 1716, Machines et inventions approuv\u00e9es par l’Acad\u00e9mie royale des sciences, 1713-1719<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Pascal
Pascal Taskin, Piano \u00e0 queue, 1788, Mus\u00e9e de la musique, \u00a9Jean-Marc Angl\u00e8s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a>
Piano de J.K. Mercken, 1770, Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers-CNAM, Paris, \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e des arts et m\u00e9tiers-Cnam photo Jean Claude Wetzel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de J.K. Mercken, 1770, Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers-CNAM, Paris, \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e des arts et m\u00e9tiers-Cnam photo Jean Claude Wetzel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Les clavecins au XVIII\u00e8me<\/sup> si\u00e8cle <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Si aux XVII\u00e8me et XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cles, le clavecin est en vogue dans la musique et les cours europ\u00e9ennes, le pianoforte lui prit la vedette \u00e0 partir du dernier tiers du XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle. N\u00e9anmoins, c\u2019est bien au clavecin que Marie Antoinette se fait portraiturer en 1769 par Franz Xaver Wagensch\u00f6n, et l\u2019instrument est encore pr\u00e9sent dans la Conversation musicale<\/em> de Trinquesse dat\u00e9e de 1774. Il faut dire qu\u2019avant les ann\u00e9es 1770, le pianoforte restait assez rare sur le sol fran\u00e7ais. Toutefois, vers 1765, l\u2019allemand Johannes Zumpe commen\u00e7a \u00e0 fabriquer des petits pianos carr\u00e9s \u00e0 Londres, inspir\u00e9s par le \u201cFortbien\u201d de Friederici et dot\u00e9s d\u2019une m\u00e9canique simplifi\u00e9e sans \u00e9chappement avec des marteaux garnis de peau.  Ces instruments sont les premiers pianos con\u00e7us pour \u00eatre produits en s\u00e9rie. Les musiciens et amateurs, aristocrates et bourgeois anglais, suivis de peu par les Fran\u00e7ais, furent presque instantan\u00e9ment s\u00e9duits par leur charmante sonorit\u00e9, leur prix trois fois moins \u00e9lev\u00e9 que le clavecin, leur \u00e9l\u00e9gance et leur petite taille. Le premier concert public \u00e0 Paris fut donn\u00e9 en 1768, au Concert Spirituel[1]<\/a> et Jean-Chr\u00e9tien Bach composa aussit\u00f4t des concertos pour clavecin ou pianoforte<\/a>. Madame Brillon de Jouy, grande virtuose du clavier, fut l\u2019une des premi\u00e8res clientes. Ainsi, d\u00e8s les ann\u00e9es 1770, les annonces de pianofortes se firent plus fr\u00e9quentes dans les journaux fran\u00e7ais et les rapports entre le clavecin et le piano s\u2019invers\u00e8rent, conduisant \u00e0 l\u2019abandon progressif du clavecin \u00e0 la fin du si\u00e8cle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Le ph\u00e9nom\u00e8ne du pianoforte carr\u00e9 fut en partie soci\u00e9tal, puisque l\u2019instrument devint un symbole distinctif de bon go\u00fbt et de haute position dans la soci\u00e9t\u00e9, dont usa notamment la bourgeoisie pour atteindre ses pr\u00e9tentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Une sorte de galerie de femmes du monde posant au pianoforte se d\u00e9veloppe ainsi avant la R\u00e9volution, montrant combien l\u2019instrument est l\u2019indispensable accessoire de la modernit\u00e9 et d\u2019une mode f\u00e9minine qui s\u2019inscrit dans la descendance des portraits au clavecin que nous avions observ\u00e9s entre 1690 et 1770. Remarquons que le mod\u00e8le dominant d\u2019instrument est sans conteste le piano carr\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>Florence G\u00e9treau. Les images de pianistes en France, 1780-1820. Musique, images, instruments, Paris: Ed. Klincksieck; Paris: Laboratoire d\u2019organologie et d\u2019iconographie musicale CNRS, 2009, Le pianoforte en France 1780-1820, 11, pp.136-149.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Ad\u00e9la\u00efde de Place. Le piano-forte en France de 1760 \u00e0 1812. In: \u00c9cole pratique des hautes \u00e9tudes. 4e section, Sciences historiques et philologiques. Annuaire 1976-1977, p.1117.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mercken semble \u00eatre le premier facteur parisien \u00e0 avoir copi\u00e9 les pianos carr\u00e9s anglais, pariant avec clairvoyance sur un march\u00e9 en pleine expansion. L’ouvrage de r\u00e9f\u00e9rence des Weber sur le facteur ne mentionne ainsi que des pianos carr\u00e9s, dont un beau mod\u00e8le de 1781, sign\u00e9 \u201cJohannes Kilianus Mercken Parisiis fecit 1781 \/ Rue du Chantre, pr\u00e8s le Louvre\u201d, que Vichy Ench\u00e8res aura \u00e9galement l’honneur de pr\u00e9senter \u00e0 la vente le 7 mai 2022, \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 du piano \u00e0 queue.” Avant la d\u00e9couverte du mod\u00e8le de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res de mai 2022, on ne lui connaissait en effet aucun pianoforte en forme de clavecin. Il faudra attendre les ann\u00e9es 1790 et Erard pour que le piano \u00e0 queue prenne son essor<\/a> – Haydn et Beethoven feront partie de ses premiers partisans. Si Erard choisit d\u2019adopter ce type de pianos, ce fut principalement pour permettre \u00e0 l\u2019instrument d\u2019int\u00e9grer l\u2019orchestre en lui donnant plus de puissance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Erard,
Erard, Piano \u00e0 queue, 1791, Mus\u00e9e de la musique, \u00a9Albert Giordan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait de Marie-Antoinette au clavecin, par Franz Xaver Wagensch\u00f6n, vers 1769-70<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Louis-Roland<\/a>
Louis-Roland Trinquesse, Conversation Musicale, 1774<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jean<\/a>
Jean Honor\u00e9 Fragonard, Madame Brillon de Jouy, vers 1769, Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Carmontelle,<\/a>
Carmontelle, Portraits de femmes, entre 1776-1787, mus\u00e9e Cond\u00e9, Chantilly \u00a9RMN-Grand Palais<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jean<\/a>
Jean Chretien Bach, Six concerto pour le clavecin ou le piano forte, 1768, source Gallica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Johann<\/a>
Johann Kilian MERCKEN. Piano-forte de 178
Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022
En collaboration avec l’H\u00f4tel des ventes du Marais
\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Johann<\/a>
Johann Kilian MERCKEN. Piano-forte de 1781
Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022
En collaboration avec l’H\u00f4tel des ventes du Marais
\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mercken : un facteur reconnu en son temps<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Un facteur estim\u00e9 fr\u00e9quentant les milieux musicaux de son temps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Jean-Kilien Mercken (1743-1819), dit aussi Johann Kilian Mercken ou Johannes Kilianus Mercken, est n\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00dcbach, au nord d\u2019Aix-la-Chapelle, alors possession de l\u2019Autriche. Comme beaucoup de facteurs d\u2019instruments allemands, Mercken \u00e9migre en France. On le retrouve \u00e0 Paris vers 1767, \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e2ge de 25 ans[1]<\/a>. Ses origines et son parcours ne lui permettent pas d\u2019exercer librement son m\u00e9tier, r\u00e9gi par la Communaut\u00e9 des faiseurs d\u2019instruments de Musique. D\u2019abord install\u00e9 dans l\u2019enclos prot\u00e9g\u00e9 de l\u2019H\u00f4pital Royal des Quinze-Vingts comme facteur de clavecin – tout comme Joseph Raoux – , il d\u00e9m\u00e9nage vers 1780 rue du Chantre, comme nous pouvons le lire sur l\u2019inscription du pianoforte carr\u00e9 de 1785 conserv\u00e9 au Mus\u00e9e de la Musique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 44.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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En 1789, il change \u00e0 nouveau d\u2019adresse pour le n\u00b0666 de le rue Saint-Honor\u00e9, ce que pr\u00e9cise une annonce publi\u00e9e le 28 novembre le qualifiant de \u201cfacteur de forte-piano\u201d et non plus de clavecin. Il est certainement un temps le ma\u00eetre de Paul Guillaume Dackweiller (1750-1801)[1]<\/a> et fr\u00e9quente le voisinage de Cousineau, Naderman ou encore des Zimmermann. En 1775, il se marie avec Marie-Sophie Gossens et trois filles na\u00eetront de cette union, dont Sophie Mercken-Hartmann <\/em>– musicienne \u00e0 l\u2019origine de Six romances pour le piano et la voix<\/em>. En 1776, il devient membre de la nouvelle Corporation des Tabletiers, Luthiers et \u00c9ventaillistes, dont il sera le dernier syndic en 1789, apr\u00e8s Georges Cousineau et Fran\u00e7ois Henri Clicquot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 15<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"H\u00f4pital<\/a>
H\u00f4pital des Quinze-Vingt 1567 Paris, carte postale de 1900, Editions JLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inscription<\/a>
Inscription Johannes Kilianus Mercken Parisiis fecit 1785 rue du Chantre pr\u00e8s le Louvre, pianoforte carr\u00e9e, Mus\u00e9e de la musique \u00a9Claude Germain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Cette c\u00e9l\u00e9brit\u00e9 des syndics luthiers qui ont pr\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9 Mercken en cette qualit\u00e9, t\u00e9moigne de l\u2019importance r\u00e9elle qu\u2019avait Mercken dans son milieu professionnel en 1788-1789. Il \u00e9tait devenu une r\u00e9f\u00e9rence de qualit\u00e9 comme en t\u00e9moigne le souci de Dackweiller de mentionner sur ses pianos qu\u2019il est son \u00e9l\u00e8ve<\/em>.<\/p>Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 64<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Vers 1808, il quitte Paris pour Versailles, rue d’Anjou, afin de rejoindre sa fille et son gendre Eigenschenck. Son deuxi\u00e8me gendre Beckers, facteur de harpes, lui succ\u00e8de rue Saint-Honor\u00e9 puis n\u00b03 rue du Roule, en 1818.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Le lien avec les Silbermann<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Aucune archive ne nous renseigne sur la formation de Mercken. Originaire d\u2019Aix-la-Chapelle, plusieurs historiens consid\u00e8rent qu\u2019il pourrait avoir \u00e9t\u00e9 en relation avec les Silbermann, et notamment sa branche strasbourgeoise[1]<\/a>. De prime abord, la parent\u00e9 de l\u2019instrument en forme de clavecin de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res avec ceux des Silbermann est incontestable. Comme le souligne l\u2019expert Christopher Clarke, la m\u00e9canique de la moiti\u00e9 inf\u00e9rieure de son \u00e9tendue est presque identique \u00e0 celle des instruments de Jean-Henri Silbermann. Ces similitudes laissent penser que Mercken aurait observ\u00e9 des mod\u00e8les Silbermann – notons qu\u2019il y en avait quatre \u00e0 Paris d\u00e8s 1761. Ainsi, tout comme les mod\u00e8les des Silbermann, ce piano en forme de clavecin \u00e0 la \u201ccaisse plaqu\u00e9e de noyer, [le] sommier invers\u00e9, [les] cordes espac\u00e9es r\u00e9guli\u00e8rement (l\u2019espace entre unissons est quasi \u00e9gale \u00e0 l\u2019espace entre deux notes) avec des \u00e9touffoirs en sautereau qui sont guid\u00e9s entre les unissons, une belle rosace en trois couches de carton.\u201d[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Christopher Clarke, \u00e9tude du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, novembre 2021<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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La forme de la queue du piano en pan coup\u00e9 est typique du travail de Johann Heinrich Silbermann et l\u2019aspect de la caisse lui doit \u00e9galement beaucoup. Toutefois, malgr\u00e9 ces similitudes, Mercken s\u2019affirme par une facture personnelle et un mode de construction diff\u00e9rent. Ainsi, la structure interne de l’instrument de Mercken de la vente du 7 mai 2022 diff\u00e8re consid\u00e9rablement de celle de Silbermann. Le clavier en \u00e9b\u00e8ne de ce piano en forme de clavecin a une mesure d\u2019octave moins large que ceux des Silbermann. De plus, \u00e0 la diff\u00e9rence des chevalets de Silbermann, qui ont des contre-pointes sur toute l\u2019\u00e9tendue, celui de Mercken a des pointes simples pour les 23 premi\u00e8res notes de l\u2019aigu. Enfin, la rosace de Mercken est plate, tandis que celles de Johann Heinrich Silbermann ont une partie centrale plus profonde. Au regard de cet instrument, Christopher Clarke estime que l\u2019hypoth\u00e8se selon laquelle Mercken aurait \u00e9t\u00e9 en formation dans l\u2019atelier de Silbermann est improbable, mais qu\u2019il est possible qu’il ait examin\u00e9 ou travaill\u00e9 sur quelques mod\u00e8les et en ait retenu certains principes constructifs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Comparaison<\/a>
Caisse du piano carr\u00e9 Christian Baumann, 1782<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Sommiers<\/a>
Sommiers Silbermann & Mercken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Rose<\/a>
Rosace du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, vers 1768<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rose<\/a>
Rosace d’un piano de Johann Heinrich Silbermann vers 1782<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Un compagnonnage aupr\u00e8s de Christian Baumann (1740-1816) ?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Johann
Johann Georg Ziesenis, Christian IV de Deux-Ponts-Birkenfeld, 1749<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cet instrument nous renseigne \u00e9galement sur la relation de Mercken avec Christian Baumann. Ce dernier travailla pour la cour du tr\u00e8s francophile duc Christian IV de Deux-Ponts \u00e0 partir de 1766 et les 14 pianofortes de Baumann retrouv\u00e9s en France – trois quarts de ses instruments connus \u2013 ont probablement \u00e9t\u00e9 vendus gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 l\u2019appui du duc pendant ses s\u00e9jours \u00e0 Paris. Il n’est pas impensable que le duc ait ensuite pris Mercken sous son patronage. Pour Christopher Clarke, il est fort probable que Mercken ait travaill\u00e9 chez Baumann en tant qu\u2019ouvrier compagnon, Deux-Ponts se trouvant \u00e0 mi-chemin entre \u00dcbach – la ville d\u2019origine de notre facteur – et Paris. Baumann jouissait d\u00e9j\u00e0 d\u2019une grande renomm\u00e9e, \u00e0 tel point que Mozart recommanda ses pianofortes. Il eut donc l’honneur de faire partie des trois rares facteurs cit\u00e9s par le jeune compositeur.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Toujours est-il que <\/strong>le piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken de la vente du 7 mai 2022 t\u00e9moigne d\u2019une grande connaissance du travail de Baumann. Contrairement \u00e0 ceux de Silbermann, son clavier est quasiment identique \u00e0 ceux des instruments de Baumann, que ce soit dans ses formes ou sa dimension de 471mm pour trois octaves. Mercken a \u00e9galement repris de Baumann la nomenclature et les formes des notes marqu\u00e9es \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 des chevilles d’accord. Les notes sont estampill\u00e9es \u00e0 la mani\u00e8re de Baumann qui les marquait au fer, alors qu\u2019il \u00e9tait courant que celles-ci soient seulement inscrites \u00e0 la plume. Par ailleurs, le traitement des kapseln <\/em>(fourches mont\u00e9es sur les touches dans lesquelles pivotent les marteaux) dans la m\u00e9canique de la moiti\u00e9 aigu\u00eb du clavier est identique \u00e0 celui mis en \u0153uvre par Baumann :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baumann avait une fa\u00e7on tr\u00e8s particuli\u00e8re de faire les axes de pivotement des marteaux; un faisceau de fibres de soie non fil\u00e9es est coll\u00e9 dans une branche de la fourche en poirier, pour passer ensuite librement dans un trou un peu plus grand dans la tige du marteau prise entre les bras, puis passer dans l\u2019autre bras sur l\u2019ext\u00e9rieur duquel les fibres sont \u00e9parpill\u00e9es en \u00e9toile et coll\u00e9es. […] Cette fa\u00e7on de faire est presque une marque de fabrique de Baumann. Mercken a reproduit ce proc\u00e9d\u00e9 \u00e0 la perfection.<\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, \u00e9tude du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, novembre 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

L\u2019expert souligne \u00e9galement que la construction particuli\u00e8re du fond de caisse est analogue \u00e0 celle de Baumann pour ses pianos carr\u00e9s jusque vers 1785. De plus, on note que les genouill\u00e8res des pianos carr\u00e9s de Mercken se d\u00e9placent horizontalement comme celles de Baumann et non verticalement comme c\u2019\u00e9tait l\u2019usage. Hypoth\u00e8se in\u00e9dite, Christopher Clarke sugg\u00e8re que Baumann ait \u00e0 son tour repris plusieurs inventions de Mercken. En effet, un piano carr\u00e9 de Baumann, probablement de 1793, poss\u00e8de la m\u00eame m\u00e9canique aigu\u00eb que ce piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken. En outre, \u201cil est curieux de voir que la but\u00e9e des marteaux (le Prell-leiste<\/em>) est garnie de peau suivant exactement les m\u00eames proc\u00e9d\u00e9s que Mercken\u201d. Cette ressemblance est particuli\u00e8rement int\u00e9ressante puisqu\u2019elle donne une id\u00e9e du type de pianos \u00e0 queue que pouvait construire Baumann – ces derniers ayant tous disparus. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Kapseln<\/a>
Kapseln Mercken & Baumann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Claviers\"<\/a>
Claviers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Vue<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Notations<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a><\/figure>\n
De la gauche vers la droite :
Vue d’ensemble du clavier du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, vers 1768
Notations des notes sur un piano de 1775 par Christian Baumann (gauche) et celui de Mercken (droite)
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

C\u00e9l\u00e9brit\u00e9 et commandes prestigieuses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Mercken est un bel exemple de r\u00e9ussite sociale puisqu\u2019il mena une vie prosp\u00e8re tout en jouissant de la consid\u00e9ration des autres facteurs et musiciens. L\u2019un des plus beaux exemples de ce succ\u00e8s est le tableau r\u00e9alis\u00e9 en 1794 par Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9 Vincent figurant la c\u00e9l\u00e8bre cantatrice Rosalie Duplant assise devant un piano command\u00e9 \u00e0 Mercken, sur lequel on peut lire \u201cMerken Parisiis fecit 1785\u201d. Cette inscription t\u00e9moigne de la renomm\u00e9e dont jouissait le facteur \u00e0 la fin du XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle, digne d\u2019appara\u00eetre sur le portrait de la chanteuse qui b\u00e9n\u00e9ficiait depuis plusieurs ann\u00e9es d\u2019une grande notori\u00e9t\u00e9. Notons \u00e9galement qu\u2019il est tr\u00e8s rare que les noms des facteurs apparaissent sur les portraits de musiciens. V\u00e9ritable signe de reconnaissance, une autre peinture expos\u00e9e au Salon de 1800, un portrait du compositeur Fran\u00e7ois-Adrien Boieldieu par Boilly aujourd\u2019hui conserv\u00e9 au Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, le repr\u00e9sente devant un pianoforte inscrit \u201cMer\u2026\u201d – le reste \u00e9tant cach\u00e9 par la main du portraitur\u00e9. La fid\u00e9lit\u00e9 des d\u00e9tails du piano am\u00e8ne \u00e0 penser que l\u2019instrument est \u00e9galement un Mercken. Enfin, la presse de l\u2019\u00e9poque rend \u00e9galement compte de la reconnaissance dont Mercken faisait l\u2019objet :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Il existe […] \u00e0 Paris, un Facteur nomm\u00e9 Mercken, demeurant aux Quinze-vingts, dont les Forte-piano sont excellents, & qui, pour la solidit\u00e9 et la bont\u00e9 du clavier, sont pr\u00e9f\u00e9rables, on ose le dire, \u00e0 la plupart de ceux d\u2019Angleterre ; la partie du clavier surtout, si essentielle & si n\u00e9glig\u00e9e ordinairement, y est trait\u00e9e avec une perfection qui ne laisse presque rien \u00e0 d\u00e9sirer : c\u2019est l\u2019aveu de tous les connaisseurs qui ont examin\u00e9 les Instruments du sieur Mercken.<\/em><\/p>Journal de Paris, 24 Mars 1780, n\u00b0 84, p. 347.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Par ailleurs, ses instruments font souvent l\u2019objet d\u2019un grand raffinement qui t\u00e9moigne d’importantes commandes. Ainsi, en 1782, Mercken fait appel \u00e0 Antoine Rascalon pour orner un pianoforte d\u2019un d\u00e9cor de rinceaux en verre \u00e9glomis\u00e9. En ce qui concerne l\u2019instrument en forme de clavecin de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022, il rend compte d\u2019un souci certain de recherche dans le d\u00e9cor. Il est dot\u00e9 de pieds cannel\u00e9s et sa remarquable marqueterie, compos\u00e9e de grands panneaux centraux en noyer ronceux et entour\u00e9s de larges bandes transversales en ar\u00eates de hareng, est similaire \u00e0 celle de deux pianos carr\u00e9s de Baumann de 1782. Ce piano de Mercken pr\u00e9sente une marqueterie tr\u00e8s travaill\u00e9e, avec une table d\u2019harmonie en \u00e9pic\u00e9a de bonne qualit\u00e9 et comportant une grande et belle rosace faite de trois couches de carton dans le style rh\u00e9nan. Nul doute qu\u2019il ait \u00e9t\u00e9 con\u00e7u pour une occasion particuli\u00e8re.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9
Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9 Vincent, Portrait de Madame Duplant, 1793, Fondation Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbonne<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Louis-L\u00e9opold<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Louis-L\u00e9opold<\/a><\/figure>\n
Louis-L\u00e9opold Boilly, Fran\u00e7ois-Adrien Boieldieu, vers 1800,
Mus\u00e9e des Beaux-Arts de Rouen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Comparaisons m\u00e9caniques Mercken & Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Comparaisons m\u00e9caniques Mercken & Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mercken,<\/a>
Mercken, pianoforte carr\u00e9e, Mus\u00e9e de la musique \u00a9Claude Germain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Signature et rosace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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L\u2019instrument est sign\u00e9 d\u2019une belle \u00e9criture \u00e0 l’encre, \u00e0 l\u2019arri\u00e8re de la planche d\u2019adresse, en haut du c\u00f4t\u00e9 des graves : \u00abJohannes Kilianus Mercken\/Parisiis\u00bb. Cette fa\u00e7on de faire est typique des facteurs allemands et alsaciens qui signaient parfois \u00e0 la main d\u2019une fa\u00e7on peu apparente et r\u00e9alisaient surtout des rosaces au dessin caract\u00e9ristique faisant office de signature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comme nous l\u2019apprend Christopher Clarke, sur les trois pianofortes sign\u00e9s ayant surv\u00e9cu de l\u2019atelier de Jean-Henri Silbermann – respectivement dat\u00e9s de 1776, 1782 et 1789 – seul l\u2019instrument de 1782 porte une \u00e9tiquette sur la table d\u2019harmonie. Celle du mod\u00e8le de 1776 se trouve sur la m\u00e9canique et celle du piano de 1789 est coll\u00e9e sous le couvercle de la bo\u00eete \u00e0 outils. Il en est de m\u00eame pour les instruments de Gottfried Silbermann, discr\u00e8tement sign\u00e9s manuscritement \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Signature<\/a>
Signature de Mercken sur le piano de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022\nPhoto de la rosace du Mercken de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Fortepiano,
Fortepiano, Johann Heinrich Silbermann, 1776, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, \u00a9G\u00e9rard Janot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/em><\/strong>Je ne pense pas que Mercken ait voulu cacher sa signature; il n\u2019a fait que respecter les conventions propres \u00e0 ce genre d\u2019instrument (rosace en carton, signature \u00e0 l\u2019int\u00e9rieur de l\u2019instrument), tout comme il a scrupuleusement respect\u00e9 les conventions propres au piano-fortes carr\u00e9s anglais, sign\u00e9s, eux, avec ostentation sur le devant de la planche du clavier.\u201d<\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, \u00e9tude du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, novembre 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Une \u0153uvre de jeunesse<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

La datation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Paris<\/a>
Paris au XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Malgr\u00e9 sa signature, l\u2019instrument n\u2019est pas dat\u00e9 mais plusieurs indices dans la facture laissent supposer que le piano a \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 en tout d\u00e9but de carri\u00e8re, lors de l’installation de Mercken \u00e0 Paris, vers 1767. L\u2019expert Christopher Clarke estime qu\u2019il s\u2019agit tr\u00e8s certainement d\u2019un instrument prototype, puisque la facture de Mercken n\u2019est pas encore enti\u00e8rement assur\u00e9e, d\u2019o\u00f9 quelques maladresses et h\u00e9sitations observables. Signalons que les mesures correspondent au pied du Roi – celles suivies par des facteurs allemands et alsaciens comme J.H. Silbermann, C. Zell ou J.A. Stein – dont Mercken semble s\u2019inspirer en d\u00e9but de carri\u00e8re.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Toujours selon l\u2019expert, une seconde hypoth\u00e8se pourrait \u00eatre que ce piano ait \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 comme chef-d’\u0153uvre d\u2019entr\u00e9e dans la Corporation des Tabletiers, Luthiers et \u00c9ventaillistes en 1776. Cependant, les quelques h\u00e9sitations et lacunes observ\u00e9es sur l\u2019instrument, ainsi que la nomenclature \u00e0 l\u2019allemande des notes \u00e9crites pr\u00e8s des chevilles d\u2019accord, \u00e9loignent cette \u00e9ventualit\u00e9. Kerstin Schwarz, sp\u00e9cialiste reconnue des Silbermann, consid\u00e8re \u00e9galement que l\u2018instrument est l’\u0153uvre d’un jeune homme. Signalons que l\u2019instrument a \u00e9t\u00e9 restaur\u00e9 par Zipfel en 1885, comme nous l\u2019apprend l\u2019inscription \u00e0 l\u2019encre \u00abrestaur\u00e9 par Ch. Zipfel\/Rue Saint-Dominique 14\/Lyon.\/1885\u00bb.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Une entr\u00e9e remarqu\u00e9e sur la sc\u00e8ne parisienne<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Stylistiquement, ce piano est proche du travail allemand, que ce soit dans son style de caisse, de rosace et jusque dans sa nomenclature allemande. Autour des ann\u00e9es 1760-1770 en France, les pianofortes sont encore consid\u00e9r\u00e9s comme des instruments \u00e9trangers et ceux en forme de clavecins sont traditionnellement allemands. D\u2019origine allemande et fraichement install\u00e9 aux Quinze-Vingts \u00e0 Paris probablement en 1767, il n\u2019est pas \u00e9tonnant que Mercken ait r\u00e9alis\u00e9 ce superbe instrument dans un style germanique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

La facture de son piano en forme de clavecin est enti\u00e8rement compatible avec une construction \u00e0 cette date ; plusieurs indices sugg\u00e8rent que Mercken, fra\u00eechement arriv\u00e9 dans la capitale, aurait voulu frapper les esprits en pr\u00e9sentant un grand instrument, ambitieux sur les plans d\u00e9coratifs et musicaux.<\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, Etude du pianoforte en forme de clavecin de Mercken<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"A.
A. Humblot, Rue Quincampoix en l\u2019ann\u00e9e 1720, d\u00e9tail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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D\u00e9cors caisse Mercken, Silbermann, Baumann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Le fort empreint germanique, que ce soit dans sa conception, sa rosace, sa nomenclature des notes estampill\u00e9es sur le sommier de chevilles, oriente vers une datation juste apr\u00e8s l\u2019arriv\u00e9e de Mercken \u00e0 Paris en 1767, avant qu\u2019il ne se conforme au go\u00fbt parisien. Compte tenu de son style et de ses principes constructifs propres au travail de Baumann, Christopher Clarke estime qu\u2019il est probable que Mercken ait r\u00e9alis\u00e9 cet instrument \u00e0 son arriv\u00e9e \u00e0 Paris, peut-\u00eatre dans une caisse construite au pr\u00e9alable en Allemagne, directement apr\u00e8s sa sortie de l’atelier de Baumann. Il n’est pas impossible, si tel \u00e9tait le cas, que la construction de ce pianoforte ait \u00e9t\u00e9 encourag\u00e9e \u00e0 Paris par le duc Christian IV. Cet instrument serait ainsi une \u0153uvre de jeunesse, car d\u00e8s 1770, Merken ne fabrique plus que des pianos carr\u00e9s d\u2019inspiration anglaise, du type de celui de 1781 de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qu’il ait ensuite modifi\u00e9 son style de travail pour s’adapter au march\u00e9 parisien n’est pas surprenant, et il existe de nombreux exemples contemporains de fabricants \u00e9migr\u00e9s adoptant le style de leur nouveau pays, tels que Zumpe \u00e0 Londres et Taskin \u00e0 Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

En outre, ce piano est le th\u00e9\u00e2tre d\u2019exp\u00e9rimentations men\u00e9es par notre facteur. Sur le plan musical, il offre notamment une \u00e9tendue exceptionnelle pour l\u2019\u00e9poque, puisqu\u2019il poss\u00e8de un sol aigu. Ces exp\u00e9rimentations laissent penser que l\u2019instrument a \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 t\u00f4t dans sa carri\u00e8re, \u00e0 un moment o\u00f9 Mercken cherchait les moyens de mettre en forme l\u2019instrument id\u00e9al.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Des modifications de Mercken pour optimiser le jeu ?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Cet pianoforte en forme de clavecin de Mercken est \u00e9galement unique par la cohabitation de deux types de m\u00e9caniques de piano : dans la moiti\u00e9 basse, une m\u00e9canique \u00e0 \u00e9chappement similaire \u00e0 celles des Silbermann, et dans la moiti\u00e9 aigu\u00ebs, une m\u00e9canique sans \u00e9chappement de type Prellmechanik. Cette derni\u00e8re fonctionne avec un emploi de t\u00eates pleines \u201c\u00e0 la place des rouleaux en carton\u201d que l\u2019on trouve encore dans la moiti\u00e9 grave, permettant \u201cune meilleure \u00e9mission sonore des notes aigu\u00ebs\u201d. D\u2019apr\u00e8s Christopher Clarke, ce m\u00e9canisme a sans doute \u00e9t\u00e9 install\u00e9 par Mercken pour remplacer la m\u00e9canique \u00e0 la Silbermann \u00e0 cet endroit. Un peigne compatible avec les marteaux d\u2019une m\u00e9canique de type Silbermann est visible, mais d\u00e9suet. Mercken a probablement r\u00e9alis\u00e9 ce premier syst\u00e8me vers 1768, avant de le modifier, certainement dans l\u2019optique de contrer les critiques de l\u2019\u00e9poque jugeant ce type de m\u00e9caniques \u00e0 \u00e9chappement trop lourds, lents et fatigants \u00e0 jouer. En 1767, on pouvait effectivement lire dans la presse :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depuis un certain temps on fait venir \u00e0 Paris des clavecins \u00e0 marteau, appel\u00e9s forte-piano, travaill\u00e9s tr\u00e8s-artisement, \u00e0 Strasbourg, par le fameux Silbermann. Ces clavecins […] sont fort agr\u00e9ables \u00e0 entendre, […] mais ils sont plus p\u00e9nibles \u00e0 jouer, \u00e0 cause de la pesanteur du marteau, qui fatigue les doigts, & qui m\u00eame rend la main lourde avec le temps.<\/em><\/p>\u00abFacteur de Clavecins\u00bb \u00e9crit par M. du Moutier pour le \u00abDictionnaire portatif des Arts et M\u00e9tiers\u00bb publi\u00e9e \u00e0 Amsterdam en 1767<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ainsi, ce type de critiques a pu conduire Mercken \u00e0 modifier la m\u00e9canique des aigu\u00ebs afin de proposer un piano adapt\u00e9 au go\u00fbt des Fran\u00e7ais, avec un jeu plus l\u00e9ger et rapide. Selon Christopher Clarke, il se pourrait que cette transformation ait \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9e avant que l\u2019instrument ne quitte l\u2019atelier et il est certain qu\u2019elle est l’\u0153uvre de Mercken :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prell-leiste is made from the same rather unusually-figured pearwood as was used for parts of the keyframe and the treble hammer-heads are worked in a similar manner to the saddles that receive the cardboard rolls of the bass hammer-heads.<\/em><\/p>A grand piano by J. K. Mercken, Paris c.1768: context and comparison with instruments by G. & J-H. Silbermann and C. Baumann<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ces observations, ainsi que la belle signature certainement calligraphi\u00e9e par un professionnel, permettent \u00e9galement de r\u00e9futer l\u2019id\u00e9e selon laquelle Mercken aurait modifi\u00e9 le piano d’un autre facteur. Le piano pr\u00e9sente une m\u00e9canique divis\u00e9e \u00e0 la fois rare et \u00e9tonnante, qui semble \u00e0 nouveau tisser un lien avec Christian Baumann, puisque le seul autre piano connu poss\u00e9dant des m\u00e9caniques distinctes pour les graves et les aigu\u00ebs est un mod\u00e8le carr\u00e9 de Baumann, dat\u00e9 vers 1790[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Christopher Clarke, Etude du pianoforte en forme de clavecin de Mercken. Le piano de Baumann appartient \u00e0 la collection Pooya Radbon, Allemagne. Cette collection renferme \u00e9galement un piano carr\u00e9 de Mercken, 1785<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Charles<\/a>
Charles Paillasson, L’Art d’\u00e9crire, 1763<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Piano carr\u00e9 de Christian Baumann vers 1791<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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La d\u00e9couverte de ce nouvel instrument de Jean-Kilien Mercken est d\u2019une grande importance pour l\u2019histoire de la facture fran\u00e7aise de pianos. Elle \u00e9claire \u00e9galement une nouvelle partie de la production de Mercken – le premier facteur parisien de pianofortes – puisqu\u2019aucun clavecin ou piano en forme de clavecin ne lui \u00e9tait connu jusque-l\u00e0. Cet instrument pourrait ainsi \u00eatre le premier pianoforte de France. Vichy Ench\u00e8res vous donne rendez-vous le samedi 7 mai 2022 pour assister \u00e0 la vente de cet instrument historique.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Nous remercions Christopher Clarke pour son aimable concours \u00e0 la r\u00e9daction de cet article<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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AN EARLY WORK BY J.-K. MERCKEN: THE OLDEST PIANO IN FRANCE ?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Which is the oldest piano made in France? It is on this question that the discovery of a previously unknown instrument by Jean-Kilien Mercken (1743-1819) invites us to reflect. This \u201cpianoforte in the form of a harpsichord\u201d \u2013 as grand pianos were called before the 19th century \u2013 puts the history of French piano making into perspective and sheds light on a new aspect of the production of Mercken, who was known only for his square pianofortes. Vichy Ench\u00e8res invites you to lift the veil on this enigmatic example – probably the first French grand piano – in the context of the history of the emergence of the instrument in the 18th century.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Study by our expert, Christopher Clarke<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Sketch of the structure<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Catalog<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
All sale of 6 May on Interencheres<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
All sale of 7 May on Interencheres<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Contact<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Experts<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Version fran\u00e7aise<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The oldest French grand piano?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The invention of the pianoforte in Italy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Within the family of string and keyboard instruments, the piano is in a way the result of the mechanization of the tympanon, a struck strings instrument<\/a>, which allowed for dynamic expression, something that couldn\u2019t be achieved with plucked strings. Its cousin the clavichord, whose strings are struck at one end by metal blades called \u201ctangents\u201d, already had dynamic possibilities but its quiet sound was a weakness compared to other instruments. It was around 1700, in Florence, that the pianoforte was born in the workshop of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731). While in the service of Prince Ferdinando de\u2019 Medici, Cristofori invented the mechanism still in use on the modern piano. With this mechanism, strings are struck by skin-covered hammer-heads connected to the keys, and a release system allows the hammer-heads to fall far back after striking the strings, rather than staying close.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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These innovations were significant since they made it possible to gradually increase the dynamic from piano to forte, hence the name pianoforte. In an inventory of 1700, the first pianofortes of Cristofori are named \u201carpicembalo\u201d (or \u201charp-harpsichord\u201d) because they sounded like the harp. In 1711, Scipione Maffei published an article in the Giornale de\u2019 letterati d\u2019Italia<\/em> which described a \u201cGravicembalo [grand harpsichord] col piano, e forte\u201d and included the design of its mechanism. Cristofori perfected it in the 1720s and this model met with some success in Italy and also in Portugal and Spain, where it was introduced by Domenico Scarlatti and Carlo Brosi, known as Farinelli.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Le piano Cristofori de 1722 est au Mus\u00e9e national des instruments de musique, \u00e0 Rome<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Anton<\/a>
Anton Domenico Gabbiani, I_musicisti_del_principe_Ferdinando_de’_Medici_-_Gabbiani, Palazzo Pitti,Galleria Palatina, Florence, vers 1685<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Portrait of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731), 1726<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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La piazza della Signoria de Florence, peinture \u00e0 l’huile du xviiie si\u00e8cle par Giuseppe Zocchi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Its spread in Saxony<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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It was in Saxony that the new instrument really spread and developed. In 1705, Pantaleon Hebenstreit (1668-1750) made a giant tympanon which he presented to the court of Louis XIV. The audience was dazzled by the variety of sounds produced with the hammer-heads, which were either made of hard wood or lined with wool, and especially by the resonance of the un-muted strings. The king, who was also impressed, decided to name the instrument \u201cPantalon\u201d after its inventor. At the same time, the German Christopher Schr\u00f6ter made two unfinished models of mechanical pianos with hammer-heads in 1717 and presented them to the court of Saxony in 1721. The ancestor of the modern piano was actually distributed by German organ makers (who also made harpsichords and clavichords), the most famous of which was Gottfried Silbermann (1683\u20131753). It was to him that Hebenstreit turned for the exclusive manufacture of his \u201cPantalons\u201d and, at the same time, Silbermann had the idea of \u200b\u200bmaking some pianofortes in the shape of harpsichords, probably fitted with mechanisms based on the design by Cristofori \u2013 which was published in Germany in 1725.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Johann Sebastian Bach tried them but found them too heavy and slow, which led Silbermann to modify the mechanisms and introduce levers to lift the dampers, in order to produce a sound reminiscent of the much appreciated one of the \u201cpantalon\u201d. This model received Bach’s approval and four examples of it were presented in 1746 to King Frederick in Potsdam. Gottfried Silbermann was for long considered the inventor of the pianoforte, and his nephew Johann Heinrich Silbermann, established with his brother Johann Andreas in Strasbourg, later reproduced most aspects of this model. In parallel with the work of the Silbermanns, which centred on the harpsichord-shaped piano in the tradition of Cristofori, other organ builders were inspired by the timbres of the \u201cpantalon\u201d and made instruments producing a \u201csonic rainbow\u201d using hardwood or leather-lined hammer-heads. Judging the mechanisms with the release device too heavy and slow, they made them without release, poorer in nuances as a result, but extremely fast. Around 1758, a pupil of Gottfried Silbermann, Christian Ernst Friederici (1709-1780), had the idea of \u200b\u200bcombining the possibilities of the \u201cpantalon\u201d with the shape of the clavichord and named this new instrument the \u201cFortbien\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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M\u00e9canique de pianoforte Schr\u00f6ter, 1721, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Orgue de la Cath\u00e9drale de la Sainte-Trinit\u00e9 de Dresde construit par Johann Gottfried Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Piano Gottfried Silbermann (1746) de Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric II<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The oldest French grand piano?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Unlike German makers, who had experience with expressive keyboards and varied timbres, French makers were less versatile and innovative and continued to produce exclusively harpsichords and spinets during the first two thirds of the 18th century. The clavichord remained unknown in France. However, in 1716, organ builder Jean Marius presented to the Paris Academy of Sciences four instruments with a mechanism featuring jacks instead of hammer-heads, which he called \u201cmallet harpsichords\u201d \u2013 but which he did not produce as he was not a member of the Community of Master Makers of Musical Instruments. Therefore, in France, those interested in purchasing a pianoforte had to source it from German and Alsatian makers for harpsichord-shaped models, and from 1765, from English makers for square-shaped ones. Conversely, makers producing pianofortes in France, like Mercken, were particularly rare. As a result, the oldest grand piano preserved in France, at the Musee de la Musique, was not made in France but comes from Switzerland, where it was made in 1763 by Johann Ludwig Hellen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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As Marie-Christine and Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber indicate in their reference work on Mercken, the first known pianoforte built in Paris is a square model by Mercken dated 1770 and kept at the Conservatoire National des Arts et M\u00e9tiers de Paris. L\u00e9on Pillaut wrote, as early as 1889, in the catalogue of the Universal Exhibition:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The oldest piano is a French one by Mercken (Paris 1770); it is of meticulous craftsmanship and very elegant.<\/em><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The discovery of this pianoforte in the shape of a harpsichord puts things into perspective, since this instrument was most probably made before the one in the collection of the Arts et M\u00e9tiers, around 1767-68. It would therefore be the oldest French grand piano to have emerged. It is also the only instrument known by Mercken that is in the form of a harpsichord. Apart from this grand piano, few other French examples from this period are known to us. Pascal Taskin made several that he presented to the Academy of Sciences, but only between 1776 and 1791.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Marius,<\/a>
Marius, clavecin \u00e0 maillets, 1716, Machines et inventions approuv\u00e9es par l’Acad\u00e9mie royale des sciences, 1713-1719<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Marius, clavecin \u00e0 maillets, 1716, Machines et inventions approuv\u00e9es par l’Acad\u00e9mie royale des sciences, 1713-1719<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Pascal Taskin, Piano \u00e0 queue, 1788, Mus\u00e9e de la musique, \u00a9Jean-Marc Angl\u00e8s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Piano de J.K. Mercken, 1770, Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers-CNAM, Paris, \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e des arts et m\u00e9tiers-Cnam photo Jean Claude Wetzel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de J.K. Mercken, 1770, Mus\u00e9e des Arts et M\u00e9tiers-CNAM, Paris, \u00a9 Mus\u00e9e des arts et m\u00e9tiers-Cnam photo Jean Claude Wetzel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Harpsichords in the 18th century <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Whilst the harpsichord was in vogue in European music and courts in the 17th and 18th centuries, the pianoforte took centre stage from the last third of the 18th century. Nevertheless, it was at the harpsichord that Marie Antoinette was portrayed in 1769 by Franz Xaver Wagensch\u00f6n, and the instrument was still present in the Conversation musicale<\/em> of Trinquesse dated 1774. It is worth noting that, before the 1770s, the pianoforte remained quite rare on French soil. However, around 1765, the German Johannes Zumpe began to manufacture small square pianos in London, inspired by Friederici’s “Fortbien” and fitted them with a simplified mechanism without release and hammer-heads covered with hide. These instruments were the first pianos designed for mass production. Musicians and amateurs, English aristocrats and bourgeois, shortly followed by the French, were almost instantly seduced by their charming sound, their price three times lower than the harpsichord, their elegance and their small size. The first public concert in Paris featuring a piano was given in 1768, at the Concert Spirituel[1]<\/a> and immediately afterwards Jean-Chr\u00e9tien Bach composed concertos for harpsichord or pianoforte<\/a>. Madame Brillon de Jouy, a great keyboard virtuoso, was one of the first owners of such instrument. From the 1770s, advertisements for pianofortes became more common in French newspapers and the piano gradually replaced the harpsichord, leading to the disuse of the latter by the end of the century. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phenomenon of the square pianoforte was in part social, as the instrument became a distinctive symbol of good taste and high social status, particularly within the bourgeoisie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increasingly before the Revolution, women of the world were being portrayed at the pianoforte, which shows how much the instrument was seen as an indispensable accessory of modernity and of feminine fashion, superseding the previous tradition of portraits at the harpsichord in vogue between 1690 and 1770. It is worth noting that the dominant model of instrument pictured is unquestionably the square piano.<\/em><\/em><\/p>Florence Getreau. Les images de pianistes en France, 1780-1820. Musique, images, instruments, Paris: Ed. Klincksieck; Paris: Laboratoire d\u2019organologie et d\u2019iconographie musicale CNRS, 2009, Le pianoforte en France 1780-1820, 11, pp.136-149.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Ad\u00e9la\u00efde de Place. Le piano-forte en France de 1760 \u00e0 1812. In: \u00c9cole pratique des hautes \u00e9tudes. 4e section, Sciences historiques et philologiques. Annuaire 1976-1977, p.1117.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mercken seems to be the first Parisian maker to have copied English square pianos, anticipating, with foresight, a booming market. Before the discovery of the example in the Vichy Ench\u00e8res sale of May 2022, we were not aware of any pianoforte by him in the form of a harpsichord. It was not until the 1790s and Erard that the grand piano took off<\/a> – with Haydn and Beethoven being amongst its earliest proponents. If Erard chose to adopt this type of piano, it was mainly to produce a more powerful instrument that could rival other instruments in the orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Erard,
Erard, Piano \u00e0 queue, 1791, Mus\u00e9e de la musique, \u00a9Albert Giordan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Portrait<\/a>
Portrait de Marie-Antoinette au clavecin, par Franz Xaver Wagensch\u00f6n, vers 1769-70<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Louis-Roland<\/a>
Louis-Roland Trinquesse, Conversation Musicale, 1774<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jean<\/a>
Jean Honor\u00e9 Fragonard, Madame Brillon de Jouy, vers 1769, Mus\u00e9e du Louvre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Carmontelle,<\/a>
Carmontelle, Portraits de femmes, entre 1776-1787, mus\u00e9e Cond\u00e9, Chantilly \u00a9RMN-Grand Palais<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Jean<\/a>
Jean Chretien Bach, Six concerto pour le clavecin ou le piano forte, 1768, source Gallica<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Johann<\/a>
Johann Kilian MERCKEN. Piano-forte de 178
Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022
En collaboration avec l’H\u00f4tel des ventes du Marais
\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Johann<\/a>
Johann Kilian MERCKEN. Piano-forte de 1781
Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022
En collaboration avec l’H\u00f4tel des ventes du Marais
\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mercken: a maker who achieved recognition within his lifetime<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

An esteemed maker who was part of the musical circles of his time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Jean-Kilien Mercken (1743-1819), also known as Johann Kilian Mercken or Johannes Kilianus Mercken, was born in \u00dcbach, north of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was then part of Austria. Like many German instrument makers, Mercken migrated to France. He settled in Paris around 1767, aged 25[1]<\/a>. His origins and his career path up to that point did not allow him to freely exercise his trade, which was governed by the Community of Musical Instrument Makers. He first set up shop as a harpsichord maker in the protected enclosure of the Royal Quinze-Vingts Hospital \u2013 just like Joseph Raoux \u2013 and moved to rue du Chantre around 1780, as evidenced by the inscription on the square pianoforte of 1785 kept at the Musee de la Musique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 44.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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He moved again in 1789, to n\u00b0666 rue Saint-Honor\u00e9, as indicated in an advertisement published on 28 November, which referred to him as a \u201cforte-piano maker\u201d and no longer a harpsichord maker. He was at some point the tutor of Paul Guillaume Dackweiller (1750-1801)[1]<\/a> and mixed in the circles of Cousineau, Naderman and even the Zimmermanns. In 1775 he married Marie-Sophie Gossens and three daughters were born of this union, including Sophie Mercken-Hartmann \u2013 the composer of Six romances for piano and voice<\/em>. In 1776 he became a member of the new Corporation des Tabletiers, Luthiers and Eventaillistes<\/em>, of which he was the last trustee in 1789, after Georges Cousineau and Fran\u00e7ois Henri Clicquot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 15<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"H\u00f4pital<\/a>
H\u00f4pital des Quinze-Vingt 1567 Paris, carte postale de 1900, Editions JLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Inscription<\/a>
Inscription Johannes Kilianus Mercken Parisiis fecit 1785 rue du Chantre pr\u00e8s le Louvre, pianoforte carr\u00e9e, Mus\u00e9e de la musique \u00a9Claude Germain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The famous makers who preceded Mercken in the role of trustee attest to the status that Mercken had attained in his professional circles in 1788-1789. He had become a reference for quality, as evidenced by Dackweiller’s proud mention on his pianos that he was a pupil of his.<\/em><\/em><\/p>Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 64<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Around 1808, he left Paris for Versailles, settling on rue d’Anjou, to join his daughter and son-in-law Eigenschenck there. His second son-in-law, Beckers, a harp maker, succeeded him at rue Saint-Honor\u00e9 and then, in 1818, at n\u00b03 rue du Roule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The connection with the Silbermanns<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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There are no records regarding the training of Mercken. He was originally from Aix-la-Chapelle, and several historians consider that he could have been in contact with the Silbermanns, and in particular the Strasbourg branch of the family[1]<\/a>. ]. Indeed, one is immediately struck by the similarity between the harpsichord-shaped instrument in the Vichy Ench\u00e8res sale and those of the Silbermanns. As expert Christopher Clarke points out, the mechanism of the lower half of its range is almost identical to those of Jean-Henri Silbermann’s instruments. These similarities suggest that Mercken studied Silbermann examples \u2013 and it is worth noting there were four of them in Paris as early as 1761. Therefore, just like the Silbermann examples, this harpsichord-shaped piano has a \u201cwalnut veneered body, inverted soundboard, regularly spaced strings (the space between unisons is almost equal to the space between two notes) with jack dampers which are guided between the unisons, and a beautiful rosette with three layers of cardboard.\u201d[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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[1]<\/a> Marie-Christine et Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Weber, J.K. Mercken, Premier facteur parisien de forte-pianos, Editions Delatour, 2008, p. 42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> Christopher Clarke, \u00e9tude du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, novembre 2021<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The shape of the tail of the cutaway piano is typical of the work of Johann Heinrich Silbermann and the appearance of the body also owes him a lot. However, despite these similarities, Mercken asserted himself through an individual approach and a different method of construction. Therefore, the internal structure of the Mercken instrument in the sale of 7 May 2022 sale differs significantly from that of Silbermann\u2019s production. The ebony keyboard of this harpsichord-shaped piano has a smaller number of octaves than Silbermann\u2019s instruments. In addition, unlike the Silbermann bridges, which have two pins per note across the entire range, the Mercken bridge has single pins for the first 23 treble notes. Finally, Mercken’s rosette is flat, while those of Johann Heinrich Silbermann have a deeper central part. In light of this instrument, Christopher Clarke considers the theory that Mercken would have trained in Silbermann’s workshop improbable, and that is it more likely he would have examined or worked on a few examples and adopted some of their principles of construction..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Comparaison<\/a>
Caisse du piano carr\u00e9 Christian Baumann, 1782<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Sommiers<\/a>
Sommiers Silbermann & Mercken<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Rose<\/a>
Rosace du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, vers 1768<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Rose<\/a>
Rosace d’un piano de Johann Heinrich Silbermann vers 1782<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Journeyman with Christian Baumann (1740-1816)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Johann
Johann Georg Ziesenis, Christian IV de Deux-Ponts-Birkenfeld, 1749<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This instrument also tells us about Mercken’s relationship with Christian Baumann. The latter worked for the court of the very Francophile Duke Christian IV of Deux-Ponts from 1766 and the 14 pianofortes of Baumann found in France – three quarters of his known instruments – were probably sold thanks to the support of the Duke during his stays in Paris. It is not impossible that the Duke then took Mercken under his wing. According to Christopher Clarke, it is very likely that Mercken worked at Baumann\u2019s as a journeyman, Deux-Ponts being halfway between \u00dcbach \u2013 our maker’s home town \u2013 and Paris. Baumann already enjoyed a great reputation, so much so that Mozart recommended his pianofortes; he had the rare privilege of being one of three makers referenced by the young composer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Regardless, the piano in the shape of a harpsichord by Mercken in the sale of 7 May 2022 demonstrates a great understanding of Baumann’s work. Contrary to those of Silbermann, its keyboard is almost identical to those of Baumann’s instruments, whether in its form or dimension of 471mm for three octaves. Mercken also took from Baumann the nomenclature and shapes of the notes placed next to the tuning pegs. The notes are branded in the manner of Baumann, with an iron, whereas it was common for these to be only inscribed in ink. Moreover, the construction of the kapseln<\/em> (forks mounted to the keys on which the hammer-heads rotate) in the mechanism of the treble half of the keyboard is identical to that of Baumann:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baumann had a very particular way of making the rotating axes of the hammer-heads; a bundle of unspun silk fibres is glued to one of the tines of the pearwood fork, so it can pass freely through a slightly larger hole in the shaft of the hammer-head caught between the arms, and then pass through the other arm on the outside of which the fibres are scattered in the shape of a star and glued. [\u2026] This way of doing things is almost a trademark of Baumann. Mercken has reproduced this process to perfection.<\/em><\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, Analysis of a harpsichord-shaped piano by Mercken, November 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The expert also points out that the particular construction of the bottom of the body is similar to that of Baumann\u2019s square pianos until around 1785. In addition, the knee levers of Mercken’s square pianos move horizontally like those of Baumann and not vertically as was customary at the time. Christopher Clarke put forward the new theory that Baumann in turn copied several innovations by Mercken. Indeed, a square piano by Baumann, probably from 1793, has the same treble mechanism as our harpsichord-shaped piano by Mercken. In addition, \u201cit is odd to see that the stops of the hammer-heads (the Prell-leiste<\/em>) are lined with hide, a innovation pioneered by Mercken\u201d. This similarity is particularly interesting since it gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe type of grand pianos Baumann used to make; the actual instruments have unfortunately not survived.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Kapseln<\/a>
Kapseln Mercken & Baumann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Claviers\"<\/a>
Claviers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Vue<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Notations<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a><\/figure>\n
De la gauche vers la droite :
Vue d’ensemble du clavier du piano en forme de clavecin de Mercken, vers 1768
Notations des notes sur un piano de 1775 par Christian Baumann (gauche) et celui de Mercken (droite)
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN Instrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022 \u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Celebrity and prestigious commissions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Mercken is a fine example of social success since he led a prosperous life and was well respected by other makers and musicians. One of the finest examples of this success is the painting produced in 1794 by Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9 Vincent depicting the famous singer Rosalie Duplant seated in front of a piano commissioned from Mercken, on which we can read the inscription \u201cMerken Parisiis fecit 1785\u201d. This inscription attests to the fame enjoyed by the maker at the end of the 18th century, as his name was worthy of appearing on the portrait of a singer who had enjoyed great success for several years. It is also worth noting that it is very rare for the names of the instrument makers to appear on the portraits of musicians. A further sign of recognition is another painting exhibited at the Salon de 1800<\/em>, a portrait of the composer Fran\u00e7ois-Adrien Boieldieu by Boilly now kept at the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen, representing him in front of a pianoforte with the inscription \u201cMer\u2026\u201d \u2013 the rest being hidden by the hand of the sitter. The detailed representation of the piano points to the instrument also being a Mercken. The celebrity that Mercken enjoyed is also in evidence in the press of the time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is [\u2026] in Paris, a maker named Mercken, residing in the Quinze-vingts, whose Forte-pianos are excellent, & which, for the strength and the sound quality of the keyboard, are preferable, one dares to say, to most of those from England; the part of the keyboard especially, so essential & so often neglected, is manufactured with a perfection that leaves almost nothing to be desired: this is the confession of all the connoisseurs who have examined the Instruments of Sieur Mercken.<\/em><\/em><\/p>Journal de Paris, March 24, 1780, n\u00b0 84, p. 347.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In addition, his instruments are often very refined which suggests they were important commissions. For instance, in 1782, Mercken called upon Antoine Rascalon to decorate a pianoforte with a gilded glass scroll. Similarly, the harpsichord-shaped instrument in the Vichy Ench\u00e8res sale of 7 May 2022 shows a focus on its ornamentation. It has fluted legs, and its remarkable inlays, composed of large central panels of burr walnut framed by wide transverse herringbone strips, is similar to that of two square pianos by Baumann from 1782. This Mercken piano has a very elaborate inlay design, with a soundboard in good quality spruce and featuring a large and beautiful rosette made of three layers of cardboard in the Rhenish style. It was undoubtedly made for a special occasion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9
Fran\u00e7ois-Andr\u00e9 Vincent, Portrait of Madame Duplant, 1793, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Louis-L\u00e9opold<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Louis-L\u00e9opold<\/a><\/figure>\n
Louis-L\u00e9opold Boilly, Fran\u00e7ois-Adrien Boieldieu, around 1800,
Museum of Fine Arts of Rouen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Comparaisons m\u00e9caniques Mercken & Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Comparaisons m\u00e9caniques Mercken & Silbermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Mercken,<\/a>
Mercken, pianoforte carr\u00e9e, Mus\u00e9e de la musique \u00a9Claude Germain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Signature and rosette<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The instrument is signed \u201cJohannes Kilianus Mercken\/Parisiis\u201d in beautiful ink handwriting, on the back of the address plate at the top of the bass side. This style of signature is typical of German and Alsatian makers who sometimes signed by hand in an inconspicuous manner, and most often made rosettes with a characteristic design that acted as a signature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Christopher Clarke tells us, of the three surviving signed fortepianos from the workshop of Jean-Henri Silbermann \u2013 dated 1776, 1782 and 1789 \u2013 only the 1782 instrument bears a label on the soundboard. The label of the 1776 instrument is on the mechanism and the one of the 1789 piano is glued under the lid of the toolbox. The same goes for Gottfried Silbermann’s instruments, discreetly signed by hand on the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Signature<\/a>
Signature de Mercken sur le piano de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022\nPhoto de la rosace du Mercken de la vente Vichy Ench\u00e8res du 7 mai 2022\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Fortepiano,
Fortepiano, Johann Heinrich Silbermann, 1776, Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin, \u00a9G\u00e9rard Janot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Piano
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don’t think Mercken wanted to hide his signature; he only followed the conventions attached to this type of instrument (cardboard rosette, signature inside the instrument), just as he scrupulously followed the specific conventions for the English square pianofortes, signed, on the other hand, ostentatiously on the front of the keyboard panel.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, Analysis of a harpsichord-shaped piano by Mercken, November 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

An early work<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dating the instrument<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Paris<\/a>
Paris au XVIII\u00e8me si\u00e8cle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano de Jean-Kilien MERCKEN\nInstrument mis en vente par Vichy Ench\u00e8res le 7 mai 2022\n\u00a9 Christophe DARBELET<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Despite being signed, the instrument is not dated, but several clues in its manufacture suggest that the piano was made at the very beginning of Mercken\u2019s career, when he first settled in Paris around 1767. The expert Christopher Clarke believes that it is most likely a prototype instrument, based on the fact that Mercken\u2019s craftsmanship is not yet fully assured, hence some noticeable clumsiness and hesitation in its making. It is worth noting that the measurement system used here is the King\u2019s foot \u2013 those followed by German and Alsatian makers such as J.H. Silbermann, C. Zell or J.A. Stein \u2013 which Mercken seems to have used at the start of his career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Still according to our expert, a second theory could be that this piano was made as a masterpiece for entry into the Corporation des Tabletiers, Luthiers et Eventaillistes<\/em> in 1776. However, the few hesitations and shortcomings visible on the instrument, as well as the German-style nomenclature of the notes written near the tuning pegs, rule out this theory. Kerstin Schwarz, an acknowledged specialist on Silbermann, also considers the instrument to be the work of a young man. The instrument was restored by Zipfel in 1885, as the inscription in ink \u201crestaure par Ch. Zipfel\/Rue Saint-Dominique 14\/Lyon.\/1885\u201d indicates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A notable entrance on the Parisian scene<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Stylistically, this piano is close to German work, from the style of its body, or its rosette to its German nomenclature. Around the years 1760-1770 in France, pianofortes were still considered foreign instruments and those in the form of harpsichords were traditionally German. Being of German descent himself, and having only just arrived in Paris at the Quinze-Vingts probably in 1767, it is not surprising that Mercken would have made this superb instrument in the German style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The craftsmanship of his harpsichord-shaped piano is entirely compatible with a construction of this date; several clues suggest that Mercken, having freshly arrived in the capital, would have liked to make a striking appearance by presenting a large instrument, ambitious both decoratively and musically.<\/em><\/em><\/p>Christopher Clarke, Analysis of a harpsichord-shaped piano by Mercken, November 2021<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"A.
A. Humblot, Rue Quincampoix en l\u2019ann\u00e9e 1720, d\u00e9tail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"D\u00e9cors
D\u00e9cors caisse Mercken, Silbermann, Baumann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The strong Germanic influence, whether in the design, the rosette, and the nomenclature of the notes branded next to the tuning pegs, points to a manufacturing date of just after Mercken’s arrival in Paris in 1767, before he conformed to the Parisian taste. Given that its style and construction methods are akin to Baumann’s work, Christopher Clarke believes that it is likely that Mercken made this instrument when he arrived in Paris, perhaps using a body previously built in Germany, just after leaving Baumann’s workshop. It is possible, if this were the case, that the construction of this pianoforte was encouraged in Paris by Duke Christian IV. This instrument would therefore be an early work, since, from 1770, Mercken only manufactured square pianos in the English style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That he later changed his style of instrument to suit the Parisian market is not surprising, and there are many examples at that time of migrant makers adopting the style of their adopted country, such as Zumpe in London and Taskin in Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, this piano was an opportunity to experiment for our maker. Musically, it is notable in offering an exceptionally large musical range for the time, up to a high G. These experiments suggest that the instrument was made early in his career, at a time when Mercken was looking for ways to produce the ideal instrument.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Modifications made by Mercken to optimize play?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This harpsichord-shaped pianoforte by Mercken is also unique for incorporating two types of piano mechanisms: in the bass half, a release mechanism similar to those of the Silbermanns, and in the treble half, a mechanism without release of the Prellmechanik type. The latter operates with the use of solid heads, \u201cinstead of the cardboard rolls\u201d found in the bass half, allowing \u201cbetter sound production of the high notes\u201d. According to Christopher Clarke, this mechanism was probably fitted by Mercken to replace the Silbermann mechanism that was there previously. A comb, compatible with the hammer-heads of a Silbermann-type mechanism, is visible but obsolete. Mercken probably first made this system around 1768, before modifying it, probably to appease the critics of the time who deemed this type of release mechanism too heavy, slow and tiring to play. Indeed, in 1767, one could read in the press:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some time now hammer-head harpsichords, called fortepianos, have been brought to Paris, very artistically worked in Strasbourg by the famous Silbermann. These harpsichords [\u2026] are very pleasant to listen to, [\u2026] but they are more difficult to play, because of the weight of the hammer-head, which tires the fingers, & which even makes the hand heavy over time.<\/em><\/em><\/p>“Facteur de Clavecins” written by M. du Moutier for the “Dictionnaire portatif des Arts et Metiers” published in Amsterdam in 1767<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, this type of criticism may have led Mercken to modify the treble mechanism in order to offer a piano adapted to French tastes, allowing lighter and faster play. According to Christopher Clarke, these modifications could have been carried out before the instrument left the workshop and it is without doubt the work of Mercken:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prell-leiste is made from the same rather unusually-figured pearwood as was used for parts of the keyframe and the treble hammer-heads are worked in a similar manner to the saddles that receive the cardboard rolls of the bass hammer-heads.<\/em><\/p>A grand piano by J. K. Mercken, Paris c.1768: context and comparison with instruments by G. & J-H. Silbermann and C. Baumann<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

These observations, as well as the beautifully calligraphed signature probably made by a professional, allow us to dismiss the idea that Mercken would have modified a piano made by another maker. In any case, this piano features a split mechanism that is both rare and surprising, which again seems to create a connection with Christian Baumann, since the only other known piano with distinct mechanisms for the bass and treble sides is a square model by Baumann, dated circa 1790[1]<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> Christopher Clarke, Analysis of a harpsichord-shaped piano by Mercken, November 2021. The piano by Baumann belongs to the Pooya Radbon Collection in Germany. This collection also contains a square piano by Mercken, dated 1785<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Charles<\/a>
Charles Paillasson, L’Art d’\u00e9crire, 1763<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Piano<\/a>
Piano carr\u00e9 de Christian Baumann vers 1791<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The discovery of this new instrument by Jean-Kilien Mercken is of great importance for the history of French piano making. It also sheds light on a previously unknown aspect of the production of Mercken \u2013 the first Parisian maker of pianofortes \u2013 since no harpsichord or harpsichord-shaped piano was known to have been made by him until now. This instrument could therefore be the first French pianoforte. Vichy Ench\u00e8res hopes to see you on Saturday 7 May 2022 for the sale of this historic instrument.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019d like to thank Christopher Clarke for his kind assistance in writing this article.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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