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When it was around 80 years old this harpsichord received an upgrade. A new keyboard altered the range of the instrument and allowed its owner to play the latest music. The changes were made by the ingenious harpsichord-maker Bartolomeo Cristofori, who produced the first piano around the same time.The natural notes of the keyboard are covered in ivory, and the accidentals are of a dark wood inlaid with three lighter strips. Examination of the uppermost and lowermost notes reveal evidence that the keyboard was originally provided with a number of divided accidentals in the same fashion as the Poggio virginal in the 1812 Gallery, as the accidental keytops have been reused and glued together. These reused keytops have been placed in the upper and bottommost sections of the keyboard to make them less noticeable. The divided accidentals allowed a player to play either an A# or B-flat. At the time the notes were different because of the way the instrument was tuned. (Raymond Russell Collection).