William Hewet spinet c.1690 – £5500.
Relatively few English spinets from the 17th century survive but one surfaced at the Criterion auction in Islington on August 12, writes Roland Arkell. Loosely catalogued and estimated at just £100-200, it made £5500 (plus premium).
The instrument includes a number of early features including an oak stand and a keyboard with ebony naturals and ivory accidentals (the reverse of the modern pattern found in most 18th-century English instruments). Inlaid to the nameboard with a typical Willam and Mary period marquetry panel of flowers, it is inscribed Gulielmus Hewet Fecet.