Jaw-dropping Yorkshire collection goes under hammer
Alan Cuckston was an internationally renowned harpsichordist, organist, pianist and broadcaster . . . and one of the country's leading authorities on historic keyboard music . . . but his Yorkshire house still came as a spectacular surprise: Four grand pianos, one square piano, one upright, two harpsichords - and a couple of chamber organs!
And it wasn't just the numbers that left experts open-mouthed. They were almost all historic instruments, dating back to 1742 in the case of one of the chamber organs, and with links to some of the giants of classic music including Handel and Beethoven.
"It was absolutely jaw-dropping," said Ian Beilby, a specialist valuer with auctioneers Duggleby Stephenson who was a member of the team brought in to assess the collection at Turnham Hall, Alan Cuckston's home near Selby. "There were wonderful historic instruments all over the place, acquired over a period of half a century by a virtuoso performer in this field who not only collected rare instruments but played them - all of them."
"I've never seen anything to rival it, certainly one of the most important private collections of early keyboard instruments anywhere in the country, a collection with a combined age of over 1,600 years and with a value of getting on for a quarter of a million pounds."
Following the musician's death at the age of 84 in March this year, nine of the instruments from the collection are to be offered for sale in an auction based at the Duggleby Stephenson Saleroom in York on Thursday (11th September), an auction devoted exclusively to the Cuckston collection.
The instrument expected to achieve the top result is a chamber organ made in 1742 by Johannes Schnetzler that is reputed to have once belonged to Handel. Schnetzler was a Swiss-trained instrument maker who moved to England where he achieved great success, building organs for Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral and many great churches around Britain.
The Schnetzler in the auction is a chamber organ, an instrument of the type that was a feature of the music rooms of many great houses in the 18th century. Survivors are now extremely rare, indeed this 1742 instrument is thought to be the oldest example of its kind in the country.
Ian said: "The claim that it was once owned by Handel is, at the moment, unproven. It is possible. Schnetzler and Handel certainly knew each other. The composer was creating organ music at the time the organ builder was the go-to maker for the finest instruments but frustratingly that elusive bill or receipt or note that would settle things has yet to turn up. The pre-sale estimate for the Schnetzler is £15,000 - £20,000.
The auction also includes two Broadwood grand pianos, one of which is an 1820 instrument of the type that the marketing-savvy Thomas Broadwood gifted to Beethoven. The composer loved it - and said so. Broadwood got his publicity! The 1820 Broadwood in the auction is expected to make £8,000-£10,000.
Meanwhile an 1820 Viennese grand piano made by Joseph Böhm, another model of instrument favoured by Beethoven, has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000.
Ian added: "The Cuckston Collection is probably the best private collection of historic keyboard instruments to come up for auction in almost a hundred years. It really is that good. Early interest has been extremely strong with enquiries and registrations to bid from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as from all over the UK."
The catalogue for the auction - The Keyboard Instruments of Alan Cuckston - is available on the firm’s website (davidduggleby.com). The auction - online and at the Duggleby Stephenson Saleroom at the York Auction Centre - is at 11am on Thursday morning.