James White virginals

A virginal (referred to as a 'pair of virginals' in the 1600s) is an early type of keyboard instrument like a piano. It works differently to a piano as the strings are plucked instead of hit to create the sound. These were one of the many things that people rescued in the Great Fire of London, as Samuel Pepys noted in his diary at the time. He saw the 'River full of lighters and boats taking in goods, and good goods swimming in the water, and only I observed that hardly one lighter or boat in three that had the goods of a house in, but there was a pair of Virginalls in it.' Virginals were expensive but light, so ideal for rescue. This example was made by James White in 1656, who worked in Old Jewry. It still works and the sound quality is excellent.