John Player (harpsichord maker)

John Player , actually Johannes Player , (* around 1634 in Gloucestershire , † around 1708) was an English harpsichord maker . He lived in London and was an apprentice and later workshop manager of Gabriel Townsend . He became a member of the Guild Worshipful Company of Joiners and Ceilers in 1658 and was Master of the Guild from 1684 to 1688. After his death, his journeyman Cawton Ashton took over the workshop. One virginal and ten spinets have survived from him . Most of the spinets are undated and are thought to have been made at the end of the 17th century.

Preserved instruments

• Virginal 1664; made for the court of Charles II bears the inscription WP for Palace of Whitehall . It is owned by the Cobbe Collection.
• Spinet 1705; owned by the Russell Collection .
• Spinet; owned by the Victoria and Albert Museum .
• Spinet; owned by the National Museum of American History .
• Spinet; owned by the Sizergh Castle .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stewe Morris: John Player and Cawton Ahton (PDF) , accessed August 19, 2017
2. ^ A History of the Harpsichord . Indiana University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-253-34166-3 , pp. 195 ( books.google.de ).
3. ↑ KING CHARLES II's virginal - THE COLLECTION Cobbe . In: THE COBBE COLLECTION . ( co.uk ).
4. ↑ "Spinet." In: ac.uk. collections.ed.ac.uk, accessed on August 5, 2017 . 
5. ↑ Spinet (Attributed to John Player): FRONT - Musical Instruments. In: ac.uk. images.is.ed.ac.uk, accessed August 5, 2017 . 
6. ↑ Bentside spinet | Player, John | V&A Search the Collections. In: ac.uk. collections.vam.ac.uk, accessed on August 5, 2017 . 
7. ↑ Johannes Player Spinet. In: si.edu. National Museum of American History, accessed August 5, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Spinet 998374 | National Trust Collections. In: org.uk. www.nationaltrustcollections.org.uk, accessed August 5, 2017 .