Bowed clavier (1625) by Raymundo Truchado - MIM Brussels
The bowed clavier (Bogenclavier, Streichklavier or Geigenwerk in German) is a keyboard instrument strung with gut strings, the tone of which is produced by a steadily revolving, well rosined cylinder powered by a foot pedal, a mechanism similar to that found in the hurdy-gurdy.[1]
The Geigenwerck was illustrated and described by Michael Praetorius in his treatise on musical instruments Syntagma Musicum II, in the section De Organograhia, published 1614–20 in Germany.
Another version was the klawiolin, designed by the Polish musician and painter Jan Jarmusiewicz (1781–1844). It was a hump-backed piano with gut strings and a mechanism controlling small bows which could imitate a string quartet.[2]
