The Harp is about 5½ inches tall and 1¾ inches wide. The Harp is made of ivory colored resin with gold trim. There is an ivory resin bow with gold edges decorating the Harp. Select this link to view our Gold and Cream Ornaments.
The Harp.
The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size a harp may be played while held in the lap or while standing on the ground. Harp strings can be made of nylon which is sometimes wound around copper, gut, wire, or silk. Select this link to view our Clarinet Ornament.
Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, North, and South America, and a few parts of Asia. In antiquity harps and the closely related lyres were very prominent in nearly all musical cultures, but they lost popularity in the early 19th century with Western music composers. Select this link to view our Mandolin Ornament.
The aeolian harp or wind harp, the autoharp, and all forms of the lyre and Kithara are not harps because their strings are not perpendicular to the soundboard; they are all technically part of the zither family of instruments along with Piano and Harpsichord. The Blues harp or Harmonica is not even a stringed instrument; it is a free reed wind instrument. Select this link to view our Lyre Ornament.
Christmas Music.
Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. But the first chants, litanies, and hymns were in Latin and too theological for popular use. The 13th century found the rise of the carol written in the vernacular under the influence of Francis of Assisi. Select this link to view our Trumpet Ornament.
In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols.
Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians. Select this link to view our Silver Metal Ornament Trees.
Christmas Decorations
Christmas ornaments can be made of glass, metal, wood or ceramics and are used to decorate Christmas trees. Originally people hung things like candy, fruits, paper decorations and candles. Today we have all shapes and sizes of ornaments from simple balls to very ornate finial shapes. Ornaments are almost always reused year after year and family collections often contain a combination of commercially produced ornaments and items that have been hand made by family members. Select this link to view our Old Gold Ornament Trees.