The case has a double curved bentside; its exterior is painted a reddish brown to simulate tortoise shell. The inside of the lid and the jackrail are decorated with chinoiserie in gold on a red lacquer background. The last two digits of the inscribed date "1710" appear to have been retouched. The keywell is veneered with laburnum wood panels. The 16’ bridge has its own soundboard, which is attached to the right of the 8’ hitchpin rail. There are buff stops (producing a lute-like sound) for the 16’ and upper manual 8’ choirs. The natural keys are covered with tortoise-shell, with ivory fronts, and the sharps are of ebony with ivory touchplates glued to the top. The instrument was restored to playing condition in the 20th century.

This magnificent instrument is an example of the pinnacle of over three centuries of harpsichord-making. Its multi-choired disposition offers the player the widest possible range of registrations, from a single set of strings to a majestic, organ-like ensemble of 5 choirs sounding simultaneously. The few surviving elaborate instruments with a 16’ register were often cited as evidence for the so-called “Bach harpsichord” that was much sought after in the last century when the harpsichord was being revived for the performance of 18th-century music. Although there is no evidence that J. S. Bach ever had regular access to such an instrument, its existence is testimony to the changing musical aesthetic of the time that favored a more varied and flexible use of dynamics and tone colors.

Hieronymous Albecht Hass and his son Johann Adolph of Hamburg were two of the leading German makers of the 18th century. Their fine workmanship and sumptuous decoration made their harpsichords and clavichords collector’s items in their own day and highly prized museum objects today.