Instrument Collection

Advertisement for Steinway Pianos - no drawing room of distinction has the ideally correct note unless it contains one. circa 1930s

Jeeves and Wooster
In Thank You Jeeves!, Jeeves gives notice when Bertie Wooster, his employer, insists on playing the banjolele

A Garden Guide - Extracting a Weed from a Lawn
Illustration by William Heath Robinson (1872-1944) showing a typically convoluted method of weeding a garden lawn. A man is hosted by ropes supported by a teepee configuration of poles worked by

Organ audition by Cavaill魃oll
An organ audition for an instrument built by Aristide CavaillÚ¡âoll, held in his own spacious business residence on Avenue de Maine, Paris Date: 1870

Scotsman playing bagpipes
People You See. Scotsman playing bagpipes. From Teddy Bear (3 January 1970)

Senegal - Griot playing a Kora
Senegal - seated Griot playing a Kora, a 21-stringed harp lute that originated in the Gambia River valley with the Mandinko but is one of the most popular instruments in Senegal

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Bandsman, Piper and Drummer of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Date: circa 1908

Louis Wain - flute player and mouse. circa 1900s

Two violins and a viola by Stradivarius
Two violins and a viola by Antonius Stradivarius -- 1717 violin (Hart & Son), 1762 viola (Hart & Son), The Gillot Strad, 1715 (G Haddock). 1875

People dancing flamenco in the street, Seville, Spain
People dancing flamenco in the street in traditional costume, Seville, Spain. circa 1930s

Sheet music, violin and pink rose
A violin and bow, with a pink rose and a sheet of music

HARPIST
A medieval lady plays a small harp

BABBAGEs ENGINE (2)
Charles Babbages Difference Engine, an instrument which went beyond simple calculation to embody some of the principles of computers

Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765). Musical party given by Ca
Giovanni Paolo Panini (1691-1765). Italian painter. Musical party given by Cardinal De La Rochefoucauld at the Argentina Theatre in Rome in 1747. Museum of Louvre. Paris. France

Piero della Francesca, Italian painter
Renaissance Art. Italy. 15th century. Piero della Francesca (c.1420-1492). Italian painter. The Nativity, 1470-75. Tempera on panel. National Gallery. London. England. UK

Komuso Buddhist monks, Japan. They wear a straw basket (tengai) over their head and play a bamboo flute (shakuhachi). Date: circa 1890s

Silhouette of stylish couple dancing

Fra Angelico (1387-1455). The Coronation of the Virgin
Fra Angelico (1387-1455). Tuscan painter of early Renaissance, part of the Florentine school. The Coronation of the Virgin. 15th Century. Louvre Museum. Paris. France

Scottish Types - Bagpipes, Clan McDonald. 19th century

The Emperor Stradivarius violin
The famous Emperor Stradivarius violin, dating from 1715. It was bought by the violinist and composer Jan Kubelik in 1910 for 10, 000 -- the highest price paid for a violin to that date. "

Mieczyslaw Pianowski, Polish ballet dancer
Mieczyslaw Pianowski (c1891-1967), Polish ballet dancer, ballet master and choreographer. circa 1920s

Wonders of the cinema organ by G. H. Davis
Noises played for films: wonders of the cinema organ. Thunder, shots and tom-toms controlled by an organist: a film-theatre organ that creates sound effects. Date: 1929

Christmas card in the shape of a banjo. circa 1890s

Quiet music practice / W H Robinson
When practicing ones musical instrument, there is only one person who wants to hear it - the aspiring performer. A simple adjustment (as here depicted to the horn)

Agra, India - Sitar player
Agra, India - Lady Sitar player

Lie detector 1923
American instrument for the detection of uttered fibs, falsehoods, and other untruths, based on responses of the subjects heart and lungs

Harp with yellow flowers on a cutout greetings card. Date: circa 1890s

Persian musicians
Three seated Persian musicians, playing a hand drum, what looks like a daf and a kamanche. A tonbak, or goblet drum, lies discarded on the ground. Date: 1870s

Advertisement for the Brinsmead grand piano
An advertisement for the Brinsmead grand piano, the best that British craftsmanship can produce, with a pure singing tone and beauty of finish. Payment by instalments can be arranged... Date: 1913

Horn, Wurlitzer
Three Mellophones or Concert Horns from the Wurlitzer range; the Professional, the Lyric, and the American. Available in various finishes

Trombone, Wurlitzer
Three trombones from the Wurlitzer range

Oboe, Wurlitzer
The Oboe, originally known by its French name, Hautbois

Ukulele, Wurlitzer
A range of Ukuleles sold by the Wurlitzer company

Ancient Persian Music
A Dervish of Ancient Persia in long green robe with fur trimming; he wears an ornate hat and plays a woodwind instrument

Chinese Abacus 1814
A man uses a " swan-pen" - a Chinese version of the abacus

Ericsson Table Phone - 3
A table instrument by the Ericsson Company of Stockholm. There is no handle to alert the exchange, perhaps this is done with that knob : the bell is very noticeable

Japan - the Shakuhachi
A Japanese musician plays the SHAKUHACHI, a wind instrument resembling the western flute

Banjo with pink flowers on a Victorian scrap. Date: circa 1890s

Horn Lesson in a Wine Cellar
A group of gentlemen and a small boy congregate in a wine cellar to practice playing the horn whilst enjoying a drink or two (non-alcoholic for the small boy of course)

Two golden harps on a cutout greetings card with a country scene. Date: circa 1890s

London Trade Card - William Bull, Musical Instruments - trumpets, kettledrums, French horns, speaking trumpets, hearing horns for deaf people, powder flasks

Music cover, Hello, Dolly! Louis Armstrong
Music cover, Hello, Dolly! Words and music by Jerry Herman, recorded by Louis Armstrong. 1963

Louis Wain, Daddy Cat - trumpeter. circa 1910s

Louis Wain, Daddy Cat - playing the piano. circa 1910s

Angel playing a lute, Melozzo da Forli
Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494). Italian painter. Fresco depicting an Angel playing a lute. From the Church of the Twelve Holy Apostles. Pinacoteca Vaticana. Vatican City. Date: circa 1480

Bone objects. Maglemosian Culture, 9500-6500 BC
Bone objects. C. 8700 BC. Skottemarke, Lolland. Maglemosian Culture, 9500-6500 BC. Mesolithic. National Museum of Denmark. Copenhagen. Denmark

Chinese musical instruments
A selection of Chinese musical instruments, including a bell(1), gong, (2), cymbals(4), a guqin or seven-stringed zither(7), a pipa or four-stringed lute (8), Yueqin or moon-shaped lute(11)

Comic postcard, Scotsman with whisky barrel bagpipes. Date: circa 1900s

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