ABSTRACT
The instrument has been used for decoration, in illustration, in political comment and satire, as an architectural term and as inspiration for young artists. There are a surprising number of artworks depicting jews-harps: enamels, stone carvings, paintings, etchings and cartoons. The Chapter House of York Minster was begun in the 1260s and was completed before 1296. Between the seats of 'Dunnington' and 'The Dean' there is a remarkable stone carving only recently observed, which clearly shows a jews-harp player and the playing action. An Exeter Cathedral carved angel is often described as a jews-harp player, but in fact it is a trumpet player with the trumpet broken off leaving the circular mouthpiece and the hands apparently in a jews-harp-playing position. A surprising number of paintings, drawings and etchings were inspired by the jews-harp during the nineteenth century. The most famous and most commonly reproduced is David Wilkie's The Jew's Harp of 1807.
