Hornbostel-Sachs number: 314.122-6-8 True board zithers with resonator box (box zither) sounded by plectrum, with keyboard, Creator: possibly Fasolini, Date of creation: Probably late 19th century, The virginal is not in Boalch, the standard book on the instrument. It is a patent counterfeit, this is especially clear from the stringing and action. It has the E - B short octave. B below C lower. Gives a whole octave. Beethoven’s fugue at the end of the last concerto is straight up the short octave. The fabric used on the instrument, as well as the screws and pins, are all modern. Jeremy Montagu thinks that Fasolini, a great faker of the 1890s, made it. This was a time when a great many fakes were produced and sold to many museums and collectors.
