#poplar

During the eighteenth century, these instruments served as musical and social centerpieces in elite Parisian townhouses, functioning as status symbols and entertainment for evening salons. Because harpsichords required significant financial investments, workshops collaborated with specialized guild painters to decorate them. This decoration allowed the instruments to blend into Rococo interiors alongside fine tapestries and mirrors, serving as active tools for leisure and courtship within French salon culture. Loc. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Dim. 238 cm L x 89 cm W x 92.5 cm H (93 11/16 x 35 1/16 x 36 7/16 in.).