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The Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments houses an internationally renowned collection of nearly 900 musical instruments and accessories from c.1480 to the present, including the Tagore, Donaldson, Hipkins, Ridley, Hartley, Walton, Fleming, Steele-Perkins and Freddy Hill collections and instruments on loan from the Royal Collection Trust. Part I of the Museum’s Catalogue, European Wind Instruments, was published in 1982, followed by Part Ia, Addenda (1998) and Part II, Keyboard Instruments (2000). The present volume has been produced with the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council from its Special Project scheme, the Leche Trust and the Radcliffe Trust.
R OYAL C OLLEGE OF M USIC M USEUM OF I NSTRUMENTS C ATALOGUE P ART III E UROPEAN S TRINGED I NSTRUMENTS
R C M M I
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC MUSEUM OF INSTRUMENTS CATALOGUE PART III
EUROPEAN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS
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E S I
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R C M M I C · P III
E S I E W C N
P R C M L
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Copyright © Royal College of Music London, 2007 ISBN: 0 946119 08 2
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher. Published by the Royal College of Music Prince Consort Road LONDON SW7 2BS Email: museum@rcm.ac.uk Website: www.cph.rcm.ac.uk Based on the design by Tim Harvey for Catalogue Part II Typeset and printed in Great Britain by BAS Printers, Romsey, Hampshire
Front cover: Pedal harp, Georges and Jacques-Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1785, RCM 199 Frontispiece: Division viol, Barak Norman, London, 1692, RCM 46
The production of this volume has been supported by grants from the Leche Trust, the Radcliffe Trust and the RCM Research Fund. The research for this catalogue was supported by the AHRC. The AHRC funds postgraduate training and research in the arts and humanities, from archaeology and English literature to design and dance. The quality and range of research supported not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK. For further information on the AHRC, please see our website www.ahrc.ac.uk.
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Contents Pitch notation
vii
Introduction
viii
Contributors and photograph credits
ix
Acknowledgements
ix
Conventions
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Colour Plates
1
THE CATALOGUE Psalteries, Dulcimers, Zithers, Stringed Drum and Aeolian Harps Spitzharfe (double psaltery), north German, first quarter of 18th century, RCM 104 Spitzharfe (double psaltery), north German, first quarter of 18th century, RCM 118 Salterio, Michele Barbi, Venice, 1744, RCM 124 Double dulcimer, Jean-Nicolas Lambert, Paris, c.1750, RCM 208 Cimbalom, Venczel József Schunda, Budapest, c.1880, RCM 308 Epinette des Vosges, A Lambert, Val d’Ajol, c.1800, RCM 344 Epinette des Vosges, French, 19th century, RCM 58 Zither, south German or Austrian, 19th century, RCM 163 Streichmelodion (bowed zither), ?Moravian, second half of 19th century, RCM 127 Tambourin de Béarn (stringed drum), French, 1754, RCM 213 Aeolian harp, English, c.1790, RCM 297 Aeolian harp, William Rolfe, London, c.1800, RCM 364
18 22 24 26 28 30 30 31 32 33 34 34
Harps Small harp, Welsh, early 19th century, RCM 260 Welsh triple harp, Bassett Jones, Cardiff, 1838, RCM 295 Pedal harp, Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1775, RCM 114 Pedal harp, Georges and Jacques-Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1785, RCM 199 Pedal harp, Sebastian Erard, London, 1800, RCM 298 Pedal harp, Jacob and James Erat, London, c.1830, RCM 309 Pedal harp, Johann Andreas Stumpff, London, c.1837, RCM 373 Portable Irish Harp, John Egan, Dublin, c.1829, RCM 108
36 38 40 42 44 47 48 50
Lutes, Chitarrones, Mandolinos, Neapolitan Mandolins and Regional Lutes Lute, Adam Ulman, Venice, second half of 16th century, RCM 13 Lute, ?Padua, c.1580, labelled Vendelinus Tieffenbruker, RCM 9 Lute (formerly ?chitarrone), Vendelio (Wendelin) Venere, Padua, 1600, RCM 203 Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker (Magno Dieffopruchar), Venice, 1608, RCM 26 Lute (formerly chitarrone), Domenico Sellas, Venice, mid 17th century, RCM 10 Chitarrone, Italian, mid 17th century, RCM 25 Lute, south Italian, 19th century, RCM 200 Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, Rome, 1724, RCM 107 Mandolino, ?Francesco Presbler, Milan, 1733, RCM 109 Mandolino, Francesco and Giuseppe Presbler, Milan, 1778, RCM 110 Mandolino, Antonio Preda, Madrid, 1778, RCM 17 Mandolino, Antonio Preda, Madrid, 1778, RCM 18 Mandoline, David, Paris, 1786, RCM 165 Brescian mandolin, Italian, second half of 19th century, labelled Joseph Gallina, RCM 19 Neapolitan mandolin, Domenico Vinaccia, Naples, 1780, RCM 28 Neapolitan mandolin, ?Milan, late 19th century, RCM 255 Neapolitan mandolin, ?Italian, c.1900, RCM 535 Neapolitan mandolin, Lyon and Healy, Chicago, c.1900, RCM 374 Neapolitan mandolin, ?Italian, early 20th century, RCM 316 Mandolone (bass mandolin), Italian, second half of 18th century, RCM 14 Svenskluta (Swedish theorbo), Lorents Mollenberg, Stockholm, 1817, RCM 135 Torban (theorbo), Ukrainian, 19th century, RCM 151 Bandura, Ukrainian, 19th century, RCM 286 Balalaika, Russian, 19th century, RCM 162 Balalaika, Russian, 19th century, RCM 314
54 56 58 60 64 66 68 70 72 73 74 74 76 77 78 79 79 80 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 v
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Citterns and English Guitars Cittern, Girolamo Campi, ?Brescia (or ?Pescina), c.1580, RCM 48 Hamburger Cithrinchen (bell cittern), Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, 1676, RCM 27 English guitar, J C Elschleger, English, c.1750, RCM 21 English guitar, Michael Rauche, London, 1767, RCM 333 English guitar, Longman, Lukey & Co, London, c.1770, RCM 315 English guitar, John Preston, London, c.1770, RCM 161 English guitar, John Preston, London, c.1770, RCM 331 English guitar, John Preston, London, c.1770, RCM 332 English guitar with keys, English, c.1790, RCM 241
88 92 94 95 96 97 98 99 100
Guitars, Chitarra Battente, Guitar-cittern, Lyre Guitar and Harp-lutes Guitar, Belchior Dias, Lisbon, 1581, RCM 171 Guitar, Giovanni Tesler, Ancona, c.1620, RCM 141 Guitar, Italian, c.1630, RCM 105 Guitar, attributed to Jakob (Giacobus) Stadler, Naples, c.1650, RCM 6 Guitar, attributed to René Voboam, Paris, c.1650, RCM 32 Guitar, ?French, second half of 17th century, RCM 22 Guitar, Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, first decade of 18th century, RCM 16 Guitar, Colin, Paris, third quarter of 18th century, RCM 167 Guitar, Josef Pagés, Cadiz, 1809, RCM 173 Guitar, ?English, c.1835, RCM 170 Guitar, Joseph Gerard, London, c.1840, RCM 172 Guitar, J H Zimmermann, German, c.1905, RCM 487 Machete, Portuguese, 19th century, RCM 130 Chitarra battente, ?Italian, 18th century, RCM 20 Guitar-cittern, Sveno Beckman, Stockholm, 1757, RCM 23 Lyre guitar, François Roudhlof & Nicolas Mauchand, Paris, early 19th century, RCM 134 Harp-guitar, [Edward Light], London, c.1800, RCM 166 British lute-harp, Edward Light, London, c.1816, RCM 284 Harp-lute, G Packer, Bath, after 1816, RCM 126
102 106 108 109 112 115 118 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 132
Viols, Violas d’Amore, Baryton and Hardanger Fiddle Treble viol, ?English, c.1600, RCM 184 Bass viol, attributed to Edward Lewis, London, c.1690, RCM 206 Division viol, Barak Norman, London, 1692, RCM 46 Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, Greifswald, 1710, RCM 44 Pardessus de viole, Louis Guersan, Paris, 1759, RCM 149 Viola d’amore, ?Bohemian, first half of 18th century, RCM 34 Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, Prague, 1740, RCM 35 Viola d’amore (Englische Violet), Johann Ulrich Eberle, 1737, RCM 33 Baryton, Magnus Feldlen, Vienna, 1647, RCM 204 Hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle), attributed to Erik Johnsen Helland, Bø, c.1845, RCM 291
134 136 138 140 142 144 145 146 148 150
Lira da Braccio Lira da braccio, ?English, first third of 19th century, labelled Joan Karlino, RCM 52
152
Violins, Violas, Cellos, Philomeles, Rebecchino and Fiddles Violin, ?English, ?early 18th century, RCM 31 Mute violin, English, late 18th century, RCM 43 Violin, William Forster junior, London, 1819, RCM 346 Violin, Thomas Howell, Bristol, 1836, RCM 54 Violin, Jules Grandjon, Paris, c.1870, RCM 36 Violin (lacquered), Chinese or Japanese, late 19th century, RCM 186 Quarter-size violin, ?c.1900, RCM 182 Sixteenth-size violin, c.1900, RCM 366 Sixteenth-size violin, c.1900, RCM 283 Viola, ?Flemish, ?early 17th century, RCM 347 Viola, Enrico Catenar, Turin, 1661, RCM 350 Viola, attributed to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, Milan, c.1685, RCM 53 Viola in viol form (?formerly viol), ?19th century, RCM 185 Cello, Gaetano Pasta, Brescia, 1714, RCM 351 Cello neck and pegbox, ?French, early 18th century, RCM 49 Philomele, German, mid 19th century, RCM 50 Philomele, German, mid 19th century, RCM 29
154 156 157 158 159 160 161 161 161 162 164 166 168 169 170 171 172
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Rebecchino (lira), ?Italian, ?late 19th century, RCM 212 Gusle, Serbian, 1930, RCM 380 Fiddle, 19th century, RCM 131 Fiddle, 19th century, RCM 390
173 174 175 176
Pochettes, Kit and Pochetto d’Amore Pochette, attributed to Mathias Wörle, Augsburg, c.1675, RCM 40 Pochette, ?German, 17th century, RCM 55 Pochette, Italian, ?1695, RCM 61 Pochette, Italian, ?late 17th or early 18th century, RCM 60 Pochette, ?German, late 17th or 18th century, RCM 56 Pochette, Italian, ?late 18th or 19th century, RCM 174 Pochette, ?19th century, RCM 190 Pochette, ?Flemish, ?18th century, RCM 39 Kit, English, 18th century, RCM 42 Pochette, Portuguese or Spanish, ?19th century, RCM 37 Pochette, French, ?late 17th or 18th century, RCM 59 Pochette, French, ?late 17th or 18th century, RCM 57 Pochetto d’amore, Giovanni Battista Genova, Turin, c.1765, RCM 38
178 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 188 189 190 191 192
Trumpets Marine Marien Trompet, ?German, ?second half of 17th century, RCM 244 Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, Paris, late 18th century, RCM 289
194 196
Hurdy-gurdies and Organized Hurdy-gurdies Vielle à roue, French, 17th century, RCM 117 Vielle à roue, Varquain, Paris, 1742, RCM 123 Vielle à roue, Roullau, Paris, 1742, RCM 228 Vielle à roue, François Feury, Paris, c.1760, RCM 119 Vielle à roue, French, 18th or 19th century, RCM 120 Vielle à roue, Pajot, Jenzat, second half of 19th century, RCM 381 Small vielle à roue, Errard, Mâcon, second quarter of 19th century, RCM 106 Vielle organisée, César Pons, Grenoble, late 18th century, RCM 122 Vielle organisée, French, c.1760, RCM 121
200 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 210
Translation of terms Bibliographical references Index of instruments by RCM number Index of makers, dealers and repairers of RCM instruments Index of previous owners Index of names (general references) Index of institutions and collections Index of places of manufacture Index of places (general references)
213 214 219 220 221 222 223 224 224
Pitch notation
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Introduction It is due to the vision of its Founder, the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, and of Sir George Grove, its first Director, that the Royal College of Music owns a celebrated musical instrument collection, as well as manuscripts, early printed music, concert programmes and portraits of musicians. As the Prince stated in his inaugural speech on 28 February 1882: A school giving the best instruction … is but a branch of what I desire to found. I wish to establish an institution having a wider basis and a more extended influence than any existing school or college of music in this country ... It will be to England what the Berlin Conservatoire is to Germany, what the Paris Conservatoire is to France, or the Vienna Conservatoire to Austria – the recognised centre and head of the musical world. The collection of instruments has been built up from gifts since the opening of the College in 1883. Apart from many individual donations, a number of large collections have been presented. The first of these was of Indian instruments, given by the Rajah Sourindro Mohun Tagore in 1884. Two years later a collection of instruments was given by the Prince of Wales, to be followed by the loan of further instruments from the Royal Collection in 1909. The Donaldson Museum At the state opening in 1894 of the College’s present building, George Donaldson (1845–1925), later Sir George (see illustration on p.217), presented a collection of highly important instruments, music, paintings and sculpture in a museum (now used as the Library reading room) which he had designed and furnished in Italian Renaissance style. It contained a minstrels’ gallery from a castle near Siena, a coffered ceiling, stained glass in the windows and carved cassoni supporting some of the showcases (see photograph on p.xii). Donaldson, a wealthy art dealer and collector who had created the historic music rooms for the International Inventions Exhibition in the Royal Albert Hall in 1885, had formed the collection during the previous 30 years. He presented a finely bound copy of The Catalogue of the Donaldson Museum (privately printed, with text by A J Hipkins) to the Prince of Wales in 1896 and a copy to the College in 1898, followed in 1899 by the Houdon bust of Gluck and 24 further instruments. When the College concert hall was being planned, he proposed to create a larger museum at street level, ‘to make this Museum not only the most beautiful, but also the finest musical collection in Europe’. This offer was declined by the new Director, Sir Hubert Parry, but Donaldson nonetheless continued to give and loan further instruments until his death in 1925. The ‘General Museum’ Besides the Donaldson Museum in the basement of the College there was a ‘General Museum’ with the Library on the top floor, to house the instruments given by other viii
donors. Its first honorary curator was Alfred James Hipkins (1826–1903) of Broadwoods. He had played a leading role in the revival of early keyboard instruments as lecturer, performer and writer and was a key figure in the establishment of the College’s collections, persuading others to give instruments and lending and giving some of his own. After his death his collection was given in his memory by his son and daughter, John and Edith Hipkins (a few instruments in 1903, the rest in 1911). The other crucial influence in the forming of the collections was that of Arthur Frederick Hill (1860–1939) of W E Hill & Sons; it was he who first suggested to Donaldson that he might present his collection. Hill later became honorary curator of the Donaldson Museum (also of the College’s loan collection of stringed instruments) and gave fine oil paintings of musicians to the College. There was also an honorary keeper, Arthur Howard Frere (1861–1931); Philip James succeeded Frere in 1931 and Hill in 1939. These were purely honorary titles, however, and the period from 1938 to 1964 showed the vulnerability of historic material in a conservatoire lacking an on-site curator, adequate funds and accommodation. Sir George Dyson, Director 1938–52, believed that the historic collections should be reduced; both museums were dismantled during the war and over two-fifths of the instrument collection vanished. He published a checklist (1952, based on earlier notes by Karl Geiringer) of the remaining 261 instruments. The showcases and keyboard instruments were dispersed along the corridors and in the inner hall, suffering from vandalism, theft, poor atmospheric conditions and woodworm infestation. However, most of the collection did escape the uninformed restoration to which many instruments elsewhere were subjected. The RCM Museum of Instruments The appointment of Sir Keith Falkner as Director in 1960 and then of Oliver Davies as Reference Librarian in the re-opened Parry Room Library brought a revival. In 1964 I was asked to catalogue the instrument collection; it was immediately evident that fumigation and rehousing were urgently needed so I requested permission to undertake conservation measures and start planning a new museum. The College appealed for funds to re-house, conserve and document the collection and was fortunate in gaining support from the Leche Trust, in association with the late Mr Angus Acworth, the Chase Charity and the Pilgrim Trust. With their generous aid, and that of other donors to the Appeal, a new Museum was built and was opened by H M Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother on 23 April 1970. In 1968 E A Keane Ridley presented his collection of wind instruments, formerly housed in Luton Museum, and subsequently added further instruments to the gift. Many individual donations followed, as well as collections given by Geoffrey Hartley (1985), the Amaryllis Fleming Trust (2002), Richard Walton (2002), Crispian SteelePerkins (2003), and Freddy Hill (2005); a few significant purchases have been made with the aid of grants and donations, including the Harp Stockbooks of the London firm of Erard (see pp.44, 46). There are now nearly 900
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instruments and accessories in the collection and the high proportion of exhibits of outstanding importance places it amongst the world’s major collections. Since 1970 conservation work has been carried out and extensive documentation has been built up. A few instruments were restored to playing order in the 1970s and have been used in lectures, concerts and recordings. The Museum has published a series of full-size plans of instruments since 1974, and in 1982, with the aid of the Radcliffe Trust, Part I of the Catalogue, European Wind Instruments, by E A K Ridley. Part 1a, Addenda, was completed and published in 1998 and Part II, Keyboard Instruments, in 2000. Besides contributing to the education of students, the Museum has provided tours and research facilities, joined in collaborative research projects and hosted international conferences. In 2005 a re-structuring led to its incorporation, with the Department of Portraits and Performance History, in the RCM Centre for Performance History (CPH). Further information on Donaldson, his collection, catalogue and museum, can be found in Wells 2007a, pp.102–25, and on the RCM Museum in Wells 2007b (full titles of all references cited in this volume are in the Bibliographical References, pp.212–15). The Catalogue of European Stringed Instruments This volume describes 129 instruments of which 84 were given by Donaldson. His interest was primarily in European stringed instruments and in those of beautiful form and decoration; he also collected the curious and unusual. He may have felt that fine instruments of the violin family should not be in a museum since they are barely represented in his collection. It contains the earliest surviving baryton, and one of the world’s most important collections of early guitars, including the instrument by Dias, believed to be the earliest surviving guitar; investigation this year has shown that it came from Donaldson and might formerly have been in the Medici collection. He also collected early decorated cases, of which two survive (Guitar case, French, c.1700, RCM 92, and Violin case, French, 18th century, RCM 30). Details of these are obtainable from the Museum and will be published in due course. Catalogue Part IV, Bows for European Stringed instruments (Knast 2007) can be found on the CPH website (www.cph.rcm.ac.uk). Loaned instruments are not included in the catalogue. In recent years the display has benefited from the loan by Adam Whone of an interesting violin (by William Prior, 1710) that is in baroque condition, with the front detached; this is illustrated and described in Milnes 2001, pp.398 & 403–4. Due to the lack of earlier accession records, persistence has been required to establish the provenance of some instruments and a few remain unknown. Apart from references in periodicals, correspondence and internal reports, the main sources of information from before 1964 are the proof copy of The Catalogue of the Donaldson Museum (1896), with annotations made in 1943 by Dyson, his checklist (Dyson 1952) and the College Gift Book. In 1964 I instituted the Accession Register. In recent years the typescript checklist made by A H Frere (1926), and kindly
returned to the RCM by Paul James, has provided significant new information, and in 2004 Michael, John and Anthony Mott generously presented their copy of Donaldson’s catalogue to the Museum. Research this year has established the date of Donaldson’s second gift as 1899 (not 1900, as stated in earlier catalogue volumes) and of the earliest copy of his catalogue as 1896 (not 1894 as previously stated). See also Conventions, p.xi.
Contributors and photograph credits Measurements, descriptions and the paragraphs on construction and alterations in the Commentaries were provided by Christopher Nobbs; also much of the Conventions text. The remaining sections and Commentaries were written by Elizabeth Wells, who also edited the volume. In the descriptions of a few instruments she added further text, mainly based on earlier documentation written for the Museum by Stephen Barber, Charles Beare, Ian Harwood, and Dietrich Kessler (see also Acknowledgements). The Bibliographical References were compiled by Geoffrey Govier and Elizabeth Wells, incorporating an earlier index by Keane Ridley and Peter Horton. The photographs were taken over many years, most being by Alfred Barnes; others were taken by Paul Collen, Ian Harwood, Christopher Nobbs and Elizabeth Wells, and the X-ray images by William Debenham. Photographs of three instruments, RCM 39, 347 and 350, are reproduced by courtesy of J & A Beare, and the portraits of John Thomas and Sir George Donaldson by kind permission of the Royal Society of Musicians and Michael Mott respectively. The photographs were assembled by Paul Collen, Andrew Earis, Geoffrey Govier, Jenny Nex and Elizabeth Wells. Computerization was assisted in 2004–5 by Andrew Earis; assistance with copy-editing was given by Jenny Nex and Andrew Earis under the direction of Paul Banks, who oversaw the publication of the volume. The indexes were compiled by Jenny Nex.
Acknowledgements The preparation of this volume of the catalogue has been supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) through its Project Fund scheme for higher education museums, galleries and collections. Its publication has been made possible by grants from the Leche Trust and the Radcliffe Trust and a donation from Mrs Morella Cottam. The College acknowledges with gratitude this generous support. The grant from the AHRC also covered an associated condition audit, conservation work (including cleaning, repairs and stringing where appropriate) and further photography of the stringed instruments; in addition, online versions of the earlier volumes were produced for ix
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the CPH website. This eleven-month project was thus of the greatest significance in making the collection more accessible to remote users as well as to museum visitors. Since the project coincided with the re-structuring of the collections and my last months as curator, it was agreed that I should give the catalogue further time in retirement, to add information and complete the editing. I was grateful for the chance to resolve many questions and provide fuller coverage. This volume has been the most challenging of the four completed so far, due to the wide range of instruments covered and the extent to which many of them have been altered (it is, of course, those very alterations, as well as fine decoration, which ensured their preservation). I would like firstly to thank my co-author Christopher Nobbs for his dedicated work. It has throughout been a pleasure to collaborate with him and the Museum has been exceedingly fortunate to be able to call upon his expertise as instrument maker and conservator, not only for the measurements and descriptions but also for the conservation work he undertook. Secondly, thanks are due to those who have contributed to the preparation of this volume for publication (see also Contributors) and made many constructive suggestions: Paul Banks, Head of the Centre for Performance History, who has given much time and care to copy-editing, computerization of page layouts and liaising with the printers; Jenny Nex, my successor as Curator; Andrew Earis; Paul Collen; and in 2004–5, Geoffrey Govier; also to Alfred Barnes for his excellent photographs and to the printers B A S for the quality of their work. I am grateful to former and present staff of the RCM Museum and Library, especially Oliver Davies, former Reference Librarian, then Keeper of the Department of Portraits and Performance History; Pamela Thompson, Chief Librarian; and Peter Horton, current Reference Librarian, who has given much assistance in the last year. I also thank Andrew Page and Viktor Thaller, who supplied translations from Serbian, and Michael Biddle, who kindly assisted with the task of inputting data in 2005, as did Laura Sherlock and Hannah Terlingen. The catalogue has gained from earlier documentation commissioned by the Museum, especially the plans and notes by Stephen Barber and Ian Harwood, and X-rays by William Debenham, and from discussions and correspondence with many specialists worldwide. Their willingness to share expertise and support the cataloguing project has been of the greatest value. In particular I
x
would like to thank Charles Beare, from whose advice and generous help the collection has benefited since the mid 1960s; other members, past and present, of J & A Beare, especially Andrew Fairfax; Ian Harwood, John Isaacs, Dietrich Kessler, James Munson and Alan Harbour, who carried out restoration and conservation work in the early 1970s; and James France, then at the National Gallery, who conserved painted surfaces. We are indebted to all those whose catalogues and other publications have aided our work. Amongst these the dendrochronological analysis undertaken by John Topham on some of the instruments for his survey (Topham 2003) was of particular value. I am grateful to those who gave support or information from the earliest stage, and thank the many curators, archivists and specialists who have provided research access or kindly responded to questions. It is not possible to name them all but besides those already mentioned they include: Bjørn Aksdal, Mario Armellini, Mia Awouters, Anthony Baines, Margaret Downie Banks, Giulia Bartrum, Alexander Batov, Ian Bent, Tony Bingham, Margaret Birley, Joël Dugot, David Van Edwards, Eszter Fontana, Peter Forrester, Andrew Garrett, Florence Gétreau, Ann Griffiths, Benjamin Hebbert, Gunther Hellwig, Friedemann Hellwig, Myrna Herzog, Peter Holman, Rudolf Hopfner, Philip Kass, Vladimir Koshelev, John Koster, John Leach, Laurence Libin, Richard Luckett, Anne Macaulay, Thomas MacCracken, Jonathan Marsden, Darryl Martin, Renato Meucci, Eric Mott, Arnold Myers, Susan Orlando, Michael Prynne, Hans Riben, Valentina Ricetti, Keane Ridley, Christiane Rieche, The Hon. Lady Roberts, Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni, Stanley Sadie, Lynda Sayce, Lindsay Stainton, Bradley Strauchen, Geneviève Thibault de Chambure, Peter Thornton, Sir Matthew Thorpe, Grant Tomlinson, Dorothea Warburg, Laurence Witten, Adam Whone, Daniel Leech Wilkinson, Bridget Wright, and James Yorke. Finally I would like to acknowledge the encouragement and support of Sir Keith Falkner, Director of the RCM 1960–74, which enabled conservation and documentation of the collection to commence, and that of the RCM Council, Dame Janet Ritterman and the present Director, Colin Lawson, which has made it possible to complete this volume. Elizabeth Wells February 2007
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Conventions Descriptions and measurements In the descriptions instruments are regarded as if seen vertically, pegbox up, tail down. Where appropriate, ‘treble’ and ‘bass’ are used to specify the sides of the instrument. When ‘left-hand’ (LH) and ‘right-hand’ (RH) are used (for harps, for example) the orientation is that of the player. A selection of basic measurements is given at the beginning of each entry; others occur in the descriptive text. Measurements are given in millimetres; larger measurements, such as overall lengths and body heights and lengths, are rounded to the nearest half millimetre (expressed as ‘½’) but where the end-points are less precise, as with many string lengths, they are rounded to the nearest millimetre. Most of the smaller measurements, taken with a vernier calliper, are given to the nearest 0.1 of a millimetre. Where a measurement is necessarily approximate it is preceded by c. (circa). Overall length includes anything protruding, such as tailbuttons, hitchpins or feet; where these are present, another measurement excluding them is given. If the instrument is concave at the tail the maximum length is given. Body length is treated in the same way. The upper limit is taken where rib meets neck; if this is not perpendicular to the front, the measurement is taken as near as possible to the level of the top of the front. On some instruments, such as lutes and mandolins, where the neck joint slopes and the back of the neck joint gives a longer body length, two measurements are given. Body length on some instruments (pochettes, for example) is normally the soundboard length but in some cases it is to a false joint; anomalies are noted. Body widths are taken at the widest point on lute-form bodies; on viols and violins they are taken at the widest point of upper and lower bouts and narrowest point of middle bouts. With festoon shapes the widest part of the lower body is taken as ‘lower bouts’. Rib height is taken as the width of the ribs between front and back. Several heights may be given where rib heights vary by design but irregularities due to original workmanship or repair are ignored. The depth of lute-form instruments is taken at the deepest point including the front but excluding bridges. String lengths are vibrating lengths, from ‘speaking’ edge of nut to ‘speaking’ edge of bridge; on instruments with bridges that are missing or obviously displaced, estimated string lengths have been taken to old bridge marks or to soundhole notches on bowed instruments; on fretted instruments twice the length from the nut to the octave fret is sometimes given. Makers’ names Not all the names appearing in inscriptions on instruments are those of the actual makers. Some of the names inscribed are those of dealers: in some cases they are those of instrument makers who marked their names on instruments made in their workshops but by others, or bought in for resale.
Selected information on makers and on relevant instruments in other collections is given in some entries, especially those where the information would not otherwise be readily available or in cases where recent research has brought new understanding. Further detail on makers and instruments can be found through the Bibliographical References; also in Grove 2001, in the specialist publications listed in its bibliographies and in the catalogues of other collections. Inscriptions are printed in italics. The use of spelling, capitalisation, punctuation and superscripts follows the character of the inscription though long ‘s’s have been modernised. The solidus / is used to indicate a new line of text. Characters that are missing or unclear are in braces, thus: {a} or {-}; for an indeterminate number of missing characters or words, ellipsis is used: {…}. Editorial matter is in square brackets. Any inscription specific to the instrument has been included in the Inscriptions section; manuscript or printed text on material used for lining is mentioned in the Description or Commentary sections. Labels are inside on the back of the instrument unless otherwise indicated. Materials References to materials are descriptive and generic and are not necessarily specific. Although in many cases a material has been named with reasonable certainty, no microscopic analysis of woods, bone, ivory, shell, or pigments, etc., has been undertaken so identifications are conjectural. Materials that are uncertain are preceded by a question mark. Discrimination between coniferous woods (for instance, of the fronts of violins and viols) has not been attempted except in a few cases. Terminology and translation Instruments that have been modified are listed according to their original state; in one or two cases, where the original form is uncertain, it is given in parentheses after the earliest recognisable state, for example: lute (formerly ?chitarrone). Foreign words are in italics, with the exception of those that have been naturalized (for example, viola d’amore and pochette). Translation of terms: a table of German, French and Italian equivalents of some of the terms used is on p.213. The naming of parts of instruments follows conventional usage; terms which could be ambiguous are used as follows in this catalogue: Arching: the lengthways and transverse curvature of a violin or viol front or back, achieved by carving or bending. Button: see Heel Capping-strip: covering strip (end-clasp) around the tail and sides of lute- and mandolin-type instruments. Chip-carving: low relief woodcarving, usually knife-work, of simple geometric forms such as diaper, dart or zigzag shapes. Composition (‘compo’): moulding compound made from various mixtures of chalk, resins, linseed oil and glue, used to form repeated decorative elements; usually combined xi
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with carving, gesso and gilding. Curl: flame, the distinctive striped figure in hardwoods such as maple. Depression: region of concavity in the arching of fronts and backs. Ebonised and black-stained: ebonised when a black pigment in some kind of varnish medium has been used; black-stained when a dyestuff, ferrous or similar, has been used to blacken wood. Edging: ornamental bands on an edge, not set back. Festoon outline: more complex undulating outline. Fielding: punched or carved background to relief carving. Finial: ornamental termination of a pegbox, including scrolls, carved heads and hook-forms. Front: soundboard, except for those of Spitzharfen, dulcimers and harps. Gilding: gold leaf or shell gold, as distinct from gold paint, bronze powder or metal leaf. Graft: symmetrical scarf-type joint, for example where the original pegbox has been put back on a new neck. Heel: the deepening of the neck where it joins the body; the lower extremity, usually formed from a small extension of the back covering the base of the heel, is the button. Hookbar: the usual attachment for a viol tailpiece. Line: a single ornamental strip (to avoid potential ambiguity if stringing were used). Loose bridge: a bridge held in place by string pressure alone on plucked instruments. Marquetry and inlay: marquetry: decoration assembled from
veneers cut simultaneously and glued onto a groundwork; inlay (intarsia): decorative elements glued into a recess cut in a ground-work. Moustaches: ornamental terminals of guitar and lute bridges. Neck-block: top-block (cf Tailblock). Outline: the profile of the instrument in plan-view. Plectrum-guard: scratch-plate; protective plate on mandolins and other plectrum instruments. Purfling: an inlaid line that resembles the composition and dimensions of conventional violin purfling. Ribs: the sides of citterns, flat-backed guitars, violins, fiddles, viols and festoon-outline pochettes; the individual staves of the backs of lute-form instruments. Rose: any inserted or integral decoration in a soundhole. Saddle: integral or inserted edge on a guitar bridge or similar, to define the speaking length of string; or an inserted bearing strip on the lower edge of the front for strings passing over to hitchpins on the rib or capping-strip. Soundhole: an opening in front or back. Staves: the strips forming the backs of harp soundboxes, vaulted-back guitars, boat-shaped pochettes and trumpets marine. Tailblock: bottom-block or end-block. Tailbutton: the attachment point for tailpiece gut. Viol-form: outline with sloping shoulders and/or corners without points. Violin-form: outline with pointed corners and ribs joining the neck almost at a right angle. Wound strings: covered (overspun) strings.
The Donaldson Museum in 1894 xii
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Spitzharfe (double psaltery), North German, first quarter of 18th century, RCM 104: RH soundboard, treble strings 1
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Double dulcimer, Jean-Nicholas Lambert, Paris, c.1750, RCM 208
Portable Irish Harp, John Egan, Dublin, c.1829, RCM 108 2
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Pedal harp, Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1775, RCM 114 3
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Pedal harp, Georges and Jacques-Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1785, RCM 199: with detail of the lower section of the soundboard 4
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Pedal harp, Sebastian Erard, London, 1800, RCM 298
Welsh triple harp, Bassett Jones, Cardiff, 1838, RCM 295
5
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Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, Venice, 1608, RCM 26: with detail of back 6
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Cittern, Girolamo Campi, ?Brescia (or ?Pescina), c.1580, RCM 48: detail of pegbox [above], front [left], back [right] 7
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Hamburger Cithrinchen (bell cittern), Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, 1676, RCM 27
Guitar, Belchior Dias, Lisbon, 1581, RCM 171 8
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Guitar, attributed to Jakob (Giacobus) Stadler, Naples, c.1650, RCM 6
Guitar, attributed to René Voboam, Paris, c.1650, RCM 32 9
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Guitar, ?French, second half of 17th century, RCM 22
Guitar, Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, first decade of the 18th century, RCM 16 10
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Lyre guitar, Roudhlof & Mauchand, Paris, early 19th century, RCM 134
Treble viol, ?English, c.1600, RCM 184 11
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Division viol, Barak Norman, London, 1692, RCM 46
12
Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, Greifswald, 1710, RCM 44
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Violin, ?English, ?early 18th century, RCM 31
Baryton, Magnus Feldlen, Vienna, 1647, RCM 204
13
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Viola, Enrico Catenar, Turin, 1661, RCM 350: front, side and back [above]; details of pegbox [below] 14
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Viola, ?Flemish, ?early 17th century, RCM 347
Pochette, ?Flemish, ?18th century, RCM 39 15
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Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, Paris, late 18th century, RCM 289: detail of pegbox
Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, Paris, late 18th century, RCM 289
16
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P D Z S D A H
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RCM 104 Spitzharfe (Double Psaltery) North German, first quarter of 18th century Inscriptions Spurious, scratched on underside: Davido Rizzio /1566 Brief Description Large and elaborate Spitzharfe, or double psaltery, a tall, harp-shaped box, tapering in width and depth, with two soundboards Dimensions height overall without feet (currently detached) and finial (missing): 1571 depth, soundboard to soundboard: at base 104, at finial 66 width, including mouldings at base: 485 width at cheek⁄bentside corner: 463 width of capital: 137 Description Played vertically with the short treble side towards the player, the bass strings on the left and the treble strings on the right; this is the orientation used in describing the instrument’s layout. The scaling for the LH strings is for brass and for the RH strings is for iron. The instrument formerly stood on two carved feet, probably not original, of ?lime stained black (they can be seen attached to the instrument in James 1930, pl.VI); it was surmounted by a carved finial, now missing. The rim and the two soundboards form a simple box construction. The soundboard edges are covered with partially gilded ogee mouldings framing the sides, which are decorated with gilded strap-work on a green ground. Larger gilded ogee mouldings form a plinth at the base and a capital at the top. The LH soundboard has one soundhole and the RH soundboard two; all contain terraced roses of pierced and gilded leather, paper and card. Both soundboards, of quartered ?spruce, are decorated with flowers in gouache laid straight on the wood; sides are of similar wood. Above the LH soundhole is King David as harpist. Over the proximal RH soundhole is a bird on a flowering tree stump, and above the distal soundhole a woman playing a lute (see pp.18, 20, 21). Under the figures are painted brackets of scrolling acanthus surrounding the soundholes. A total of seven combination bridges/ hitchrails and two nuts, of ebonised ?beech, are glued to the soundboards; they are of triangular section and similar to harpsichord bridges in the Flemish tradition. All the wrestpins are angled steeply away from the nuts, by c.15°. The complex stringing is arranged as follows: LH soundboard (bass strings) Compass: C, D, E to g2, a2, b2, c3, d3, e3 (i.e. without C♯, D♯, g♯2, a♯2, c♯3, d♯3). All strings share the same nut and the compass is thirty diatonic notes with sixteen accidentals. Starting from the lowest note, eleven octave strings go to the shortest, distal bridge, to which they are also hitched. From C to g the 8 strings use the central bridge as both bridge and hitchrail (except the lowest string which is hitched above the capital at the top). From a to e3 the 8 18
strings pass over the central bridge to be hitched on the far side of the proximal bridge, allowing their after-lengths to vibrate sympathetically; the after-lengths are roughly equal to the speaking-lengths and could also have been plucked. For the diatonic notes there are two strings to a note from C to F, three from g to g2, and two from a2 to d3; e3 is single-strung. Sixteen chromatic notes, from F♯ to f ♯ 2, are single strings. These rest in saw-cuts at the nut so that they are c.2mm behind the plane of the diatonic strings, and their length is defined by passing over individual iron staples. Instead of conventional nut pins, the diatonic strings pass through slots filed in small rectangular iron inserts in the nut, one for each course, raising the strings clear of the wood. The same principle is applied in a different way at the central bridge, where the iron bridge pins have slots filed in their sides to hold the strings about a millimetre above the wood (this applies only to the strings which are hitched to the proximal bridge and have tuned after-lengths). The lowest seven pins of both 8 s are larger and drilled. The earlier surviving strings and relative scaling show that this side was strung in brass. Heights of nuts: in bass 25mm, in treble 22mm; heights of bridges, proximal to distal: bass 18, 21, 15.5mm; treble 17.1, 17.5, 12.8mm String lengths: longest 8 string (and after-length where applicable) 1430½ C
601 (601) c1
242 (241) f 2
1236½ F
462 (462) f 1
162 (164) c3
993 c
320½ (321½) c2
130 (130) e3
816 f 4 strings: c 967, f 759, c1 525, f 1 387mm
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of LH soundboard showing painting of King David
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Spitzharfe (double psaltery), North German, RCM 104: LH soundboard, bass strings
Spitzharfe (double psaltery), North German, RCM 104: RH soundboard, treble strings; see also colour plate, p.1 19
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Gauge numbers (in black ink on the underside from bass to treble): 8 00000001122334445555555666{- - - -} 4 1{-}22334455 RH soundboard (treble strings) Two separate systems of strings share the same nut, and the compass and tuning of the stringing is less clear on this side. A conjectural compass of the proximal system could be g to b2, seventeen diatonic notes, with two strings for g1, three strings to a note from a1 to g2, two for a2, and one for b2. Except for b2, these strings too have
notes. Curiously, the wrestpin layout and thus the direction of winding on this side is the reverse of the usual arrangement: the pins have to be turned counterclockwise to sharpen a note. This results in the direction of turn being towards the player on both sides of the instrument. Heights of nuts: in bass 24mm, in treble 20mm; heights of bridges, proximal to distal: bass 20, 22.8, 15.2, 18.5mm; treble 16.4, 20, 12.4, 14.5mm String lengths: 8 strings 1400 C 816 f 345 c2 1262 F
606 c1
265 f 2
1012 c
470 f 1
226 a2
4 strings (with after-lengths where applicable) 1106 c 452 (452) f 1 187 (187) c3 872 f
324 (325) c2
141 (140) f 3
595 c1
259 (257) f 2
102½ (100) b3
Gauge numbers: proximal system, treble to bass {-}999888777766554 distal system, treble to bass 999998888877777776666555{-}44 8888877777{?}6666555555433{- - -}
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of RH soundboard showing painting of a bird
notched nut-plates instead of pins. There is an extra single string between each of these courses, again in saw-cuts, but the highest three are without staples. All these strings are hitched to the proximal bridge. String lengths: g 789, g1 386, g2 216, b2 187mm The distal set is the most complex with three bridges/hitchrails, probably arranged as one 8 and 2 × 4 , consisting of 28 diatonic notes, conjecturally C to g2, a2, b2, with three strings to a note, except b3, which has two. The 8 strings go to the bridge furthest from the nut and are hitched to it. The 4 bass notes, C to c, go to the shortest bridge of the system and are hitched to it: the remaining 4 strings use this bridge but are hitched to the central bridge, and their speaking lengths, as with the lefthand soundboard arrangement, equal the after-lengths. There are again single strings between all the diatonic courses in saw-cuts, but there are only staples for the true chromatic notes. However, a later modification on both nut and bridges makes the original intentions of the builder very hard to analyse in relation to the chromatic 20
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of underside showing gauge numbers
Early, possibly original, strings on the RH side are wound counter-clockwise onto wrestpins. String gauges: Proximal system: a 0.36, b 0.36, c1 0.33, d1 0.33, f 1 0.29, g1 0.29mm Distal system, 8 strings: B 0.41, g 0.33, a 0.33, b 0.33, e1 0.30, f 1 0.30, g1 0.30, a1 0.30, b1 0.30mm Distal system, 4 strings: f 0.26, g1 0.26, a1 0.26, b1 0.26, g2 0.23, a2 0.21, b2 0.21mm
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Commentary This is the most complex surviving Spitzharfe. It would have been placed on a table though smaller examples were held on the player’s lap. The soundboard painting is north German in style, as are the paintings seated over the soundholes rather than surrounding them, and the use of a green and gold Brokatpapier on the collars of the roses. The missing finial had to be detachable to gain access to the lowest bass hitchpin. Lines are scribed along the bases of the bridges, probably to check any flow of the ebonising varnish when it was applied. The placing of additional strings between those for the diatonic semitones, as well as between those for the tones, has parallels in triple harps, including the Welsh (see RCM 295). These may have been additional sympathetic strings or tuned in unison with one of the adjacent diatonic strings to facilitate rapid repetition. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXIX James 1930, p.87 & pl.VI Grove 1984, v.2 p.74 ill Wells 1984, p.14
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of RH soundboard showing painting of a woman playing a lute
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of a rose showing Brokatpapier on the collar
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of gilded strap-work on the side
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: detail of nut and wrestpins
Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 104: one of the carved feet formerly attached 21
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RCM 118 Spitzharfe (Double Psaltery) North German, first quarter of 18th century Inscriptions Illegible remains of monogram on shield finial Two paper labels on RH soundboard below soundhole, only partly legible and torn: Venetian Harp Cinque cent{. . .} / {. . .} Salaman [dealer’s label] Venetian {. . .} / 16th century [inventory label] Brief Description Spitzharfe, double psaltery in the form of a harp-shaped box, tapering in width and depth, with two soundboards Dimensions height overall: 1144 depth, soundboard to soundboard: at base 69, below finial 46 width, including mouldings at base: 305 width at cheek⁄bentside corner: 291 Description On four carved and gilded paw feet, two of which survive. Layout as RCM 104; the scaling for the LH (bass) strings is for brass and for the RH (treble) strings for iron. Sides and soundboard decorated with floral chinoiserie in gold; edge mouldings gessoed and gilded; bridges ebonised. Later dark brown varnish. Capital at top of instrument carries a gessoed and gilded lion finial supporting a shield. Each soundboard has a single soundhole which originally had an inserted paper or leather rose, now missing. Transverse soundboard ribs act as braces across the soundbox and are cut out where they pass under the bridges; the bridges combine the function of bridge and hitchrail. Chromatic strings lie in saw-cuts in nut and bridge, c.2mm behind the level of the diatonic strings; there are also saw-cuts for extra strings between some of the diatonic semitones. LH soundboard (bass strings) Twenty-seven diatonic notes: a conjectural compass would be G to f 2 with chromatic notes from c♯ to a♯1, and octave strings for notes G, A, B and c. (Strings G, B, and A were hitched to the sides of the finial but their bridge is missing.) Height of nut: bass 20mm, treble 19mm; heights of bridges: 4 bridge 11mm, main bridge, bass 18mm, treble 16mm String lengths: 4 strings 8 strings 829 c
369 f 1
609 g
680 f
2
256 c
572 a
2
533 b
1
484 c
197 f
492 c1 Saw-cut positions for chromatic and extra strings marked with an underscore (the saw-cut between eleven and twelve not used). Twenty-one wrestpins for diatonic strings, twelve for accidentals and four for 4 strings. 22
RH soundboard (treble strings) Twenty-seven diatonic notes of which the top note is single-strung; the highest nineteen notes have tuned matching afterlengths going to the outer bridge. A conjectural compass could be f to d3 with chromatic notes (single strings) from c♯1 to f♯3. Height of nut: 16mm; heights of bridges: proximal, bass 17.3mm, treble 15mm; distal, bass 16.6mm, treble 13.7mm String lengths: longer strings (and afterlengths) 767 f
319 (317) c2
127 (131) f 3
621 c1
243 (243) f 2
84 (82) c3
460 f 1
170 (172) c3
75 (70) d3
There are 26 wrestpins in lowest row, 25 in central row for diatonic strings and 18 in highest, irregular, row nearest to nut, 16 of which are used for accidentals. Commentary Stringing and pinning very confused, especially on the RH soundboard. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXIV Wells 1984, p.14
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Spitzharfe, North German, RCM 118 23
23
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RCM 124 Salterio Michele Barbi, Venice, 1744 Inscriptions Handwritten label on inside of back: Michael Barbi, Flor̃. / Fecit V{…}ijs 1744 Brief description Trapezoidal salterio with extension on the LH side for suboctave strings Dimensions : 985 : 341 : proximal side 680, distal side 368; angle of front corners c.64º : 129 : 65 : 52.5 : on main soundboard 68, on extension, 51.5 and 28 Description Black-stained frame of beech with ?spruce soundboard. Two soundholes with pierced gilded paper roses; soundboard framed with gessoed and gilded ogee mouldings. LH extension of two posts tenoned into side of main instrument with cross-piece forming a hitchrail for the sub-octave strings; this frame encloses an additional quasi-
soundboard with two more gilded paper roses and further gessoed and gilded edge-mouldings. There is a thin backboard close behind it. The surviving bridges, c.27mm high, are formed of slotted strips of gessoed and gilded beech, of various lengths, two sections for the RH set, and four for the LH set. Brass wire provides a bearing for the strings; the nuts at each end of the soundboard and on the extension are also of brass wire, diameter 1.3mm. There are 24 quadruple-strung courses arranged to give a compass of approximately thirty notes: a possible layout and tuning could give g to d3 without g♯ and a♯. The twelve courses on the RH bridges, give one pitch per course. String lengths, bass to treble: (497), (473), 450, 427, 403, 381, 357, 334, 312, 286, 260, 240mm. The two lowest courses may have had their own LH bridges, now missing. One string of each of the lower ten courses is hitched to the LH extension. These sub-octave string-lengths from bass to treble are: (820), 803, 778, 753, 733, 705, 683, 655, 633, 611mm. The longest string may be a later addition. The twelve strings on the LH bridges (two of which are missing) are divided in a ratio of approximately 2:3 and give two pitches per course. From bass to treble, string lengths are: 225:334, 213:317, 205:304, 196:288, 185:274, 174:260, 165:245, 156:229, 145:215, 136:200, 125:185, 112:173mm.
Salterio, Michele Barbi, RCM 124 24
24
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Gauges of surviving strings (bass to treble): 1
-
0.45b
0.45b
0.52b
2
0.45b
0.45b
0.45b
-
3
-
-
-
0.55b
4
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
5
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.54b
6
0.38
0.38
0.38
-
7
0.36
0.36
0.36
0.54b
8
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
9
-
-
-
-
10
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
11
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.53b
12
0.38
0.38
0.38
0.38
13
-
0.35
0.35
0.52b
14
0.33
0.33
0.33
-
15
0.33
0.33
0.33
0.52b
16
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.29
17
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.54b
18
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.29
19
-
0.29
-
0.46b
20
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.29
21
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.29
22
0.29
0.29
0.29
0.29
23
0.31
0.31
0.31
0.31
24
0.28
0.28
0.28
0.28
b = brass (remainder iron) Diameter of undrilled iron wrestpins: 4.9mm.
Commentary The instrument was raised on three carved and gilded feet to tilt it towards the player. There seems to have been an early failure in the joints of the extension to the main instrument and iron reinforcing strips were added on the underside; to fit these it was necessary to remove the leftside foot, now missing. It is difficult to see how plucking the strings would not have displaced them, due to the almost non-existent indentations on the bridges and nuts, so it is possible that this instrument was played with beaters rather than plucked (for information on other salterios see Kenyon de Pascual 1997). An associated tuning key of iron, with a hook for making eyes in wire strings (see photograph), may have belonged to the instrument originally though it could have been made for a harpsichord. Michele Barbi, originally from Florence (hence the abbreviated form of ‘Florentinus’ in the inscription), made virginals and salterios in Venice (Boalch 1995, p.11); the texts of the labels in a salterio dated 1748 (Fryklund collection, Musikmuseet, Stockholm) and another dated 1724 (Renato Meucci collection), made it possible to decipher that in RCM 124 (formerly attributed erroneously to ‘Barbitler’). The second of these instruments was built in Rome in the year when the Venetian composer Vivaldi was also there and wrote the opera Il Giustino, the only work in his output that calls for a salterio (personal communication from Renato Meucci). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Vienna 1892, ill. p.67, pl.XVI, no.14 Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVI Colson ?1936, ill. p.265 Wells 1984, p.14 Toffolo 1987, p.220
Tuning key associated with Salterio, RCM 124 25
25
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RCM 208 Double Dulcimer Jean-Nicolas Lambert, Paris, c.1750 Inscriptions Stamped on inside front rim of both lids: J•LAMBERT / A•PARIS Brief Description A double dulcimer (tympanon) consisting of a single trapezoidal frame with a soundboard on each face Dimensions : proximal side 1046, distal side 473; angle of front corners c.50º , , : 138 : 362 : soundboard to soundboard c.50, including nuts 73.5 Description Whichever dulcimer is played, the closed lid of the other forms a base. The two dulcimers are dissimilar in size, layout, stringing and decoration. The smaller instrument had four strings to each of the 24 courses, later reduced to 21. The larger instrument had 24 courses of six strings each, later reduced to 22 courses of four strings each. The sides and the exteriors of the lids are coarsely grained in reddish brown paint. The tops of the lids are edged, and divided into two panels, with applied moulded strips; they are hinged to the instrument with folded and riveted iron flap-hinges, which share central plates on the instrument and have removable pins. Each lid has a small turned foot at each corner, the pair on the short side being a little taller. Inside the lids, the inner rims are painted red, surrounding a pale blue ground. On this are naïve paintings of trophies of instruments surrounded by birds and flowers, within floral borders. One lid-fastening hook of bent wire remains. Smaller instrument Soundboard of ?spruce; two soundholes, each holding a rose of gilded wood terraced in three layers, with a moulded edge overlapping the soundboard; the piercings are plain holes. A later ornamental flower has been wired to the lowest level of both roses, on a trembling stem of helical spring; the flower head is of cut glass with petals of metal foil; outside diameter of roses 83mm. A border,
possibly original, of scrolling leaves and floral corner ornaments runs around the soundboard, and there is later coloured découpage decoration depicting a shepherd and various flowers. The whole soundboard is covered with varnish, probably dating from the application of the découpage. Carved mouldings, gessoed and gilded, surround the board. At each end, behind the mouldings, are sloping ebonised areas forming the hitchplank and wrestplank. The nuts of iron wire, diameter 2.3mm, lie in grooves in the gilded moulding: the same wire is used on top of the bridges. The wrestpins are notched at the top and are of iron, diameter c.3.7mm. Bridge heights: c.28mm; height of nuts above soundboard: c.14mm; soundboard: long side 720mm, short side 322mm; diameter of rose: outside 83mm. Marks on the soundboard give an approximate measurement of string lengths for the RH bridge: highest note 320mm, lowest note 676mm. The LH bridge’s division of its strings is very close to a 3:2 ratio in the bass (465:315mm) but not in the treble (266:139mm). Larger instrument The roses in the two soundholes on this side have collars of gilded wood, holding a simple design in pierced gilded leather. This soundboard is painted in an opaque blue distemper with gilded decoration of flowers, foliage, three apes and two horn players. There is later découpage of birds, insects and flowers; the surrounding plain ogee moulding is gessoed and gilded. The wrestplank and hitchplank areas have been much reworked with many plugged wrestpin holes and an added layer for the present set of hitchpins. There are no bridge marks on this soundboard. Bridge heights: LH 27mm, RH 22mm; height of nuts above soundboard: 10mm. Soundboard: long side 803mm, short side 315mm. Rose diameter: outside 77mm, opening 61mm. Commentary The original positions of the bridges and to which instrument they belonged are not clear. They are of two different styles, with U-shaped string-clearance openings in the ?LH bridges and elliptical openings in the ?RH bridges; all are gessoed and gilded. The exterior surfaces of the instrument were originally ebonised and there are traces of at least three different finishes; there appears to be no previous finish under the inner lid paintings. A photograph given with the instrument shows it on a stand, now lost, and with two boxwood beaters with curved ends. Jean-Nicolas Lambert (fl.1745) worked in Paris making vielles à roue, mandolines, citterns, guitars, violins, cellos and cornemuses; after his death in 1761, his widow continued the business until 1789. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899
Double dulcimer, J-N Lambert, RCM 208: detail of découpage decoration on smaller instrument 26
References Colson 1935, p.341 & ill., p.342 Spence 1966, p.38 & ill. Wells 1984, p.14
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Double dulcimer, J-N Lambert, RCM 208: smaller instrument [above], larger instrument [below]; see also colour plate, p.2 27
27
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RCM 308 Cimbalom Venczel József Schunda, Budapest, c.1880 Inscriptions Hungarian and German printed labels below soundholes and glued to internal bracing: In centre: SCHUNDA VENCZEL JOZSEF Hungarian text on left: CS. ÉS KIR. SZAB. / UDVARIHANGSZAR-GYÁR / a magy. Kir. Operaház szállitója / BUDAPEST / IV., Magyar-utcza 18. és 26. szám. / Mindennemü / fuvó-, vonó-, ütö-hangszerek / és hangszerrészek. German text on right: KAIS u. KÖN. PRIV. / HOFINSTRUMENTEN-FABRIK / SCHUNDA VENCZEL JOSEF / Lieferant der Königl. Oper / BUDAPEST / IV., Ungargasse Nr18 und 26 / Alle Gattungen / Blas-, Streich-, Schlaginstrumente / und Instrumenten-Bestandtheile Embossed on the outside of the back of the instrument: SCHUNDA V.J. BUDAPEST. Brief description Cimbalom, a Hungarian dulcimer with an almost complete chromatic compass from D to e3, and with pedal-operated dampers Dimensions : 1485 : 1080 , : 780 : at back 320, at front 275 : at back 270, at front 275 : c.80 : at back 880, at front 810 STRING LENGTHS
851 D
751 e
457 f 1
268 f 2
850 E
738 f
444 f♯ 1
275 f♯ 2
835 F
734 f♯
328 g1
236 g2
836 F♯
717 g
434 g♯ 1
260 g♯ 2
820 G
705 g♯
318 a1
275 a2
817 G♯
688 a
418 a♯ 1
198 a♯ 2
806 A
671 a♯
310 b1
219 b2
802 A♯
655 b
304 c2
189 c3
786 B
494 c1
295 c♯ 2
182 c♯3
2
3
1
788 c
637 c♯
770 c♯
1
481 d
300 d♯
768 d
624 d♯1
288 e2
755 d♯
467 e1
28
303 d
159 d 2
Description Trapezoidal case with canted corners, on four slightly splayed turned legs of stained beech. Walnut casework in ‘renaissance-revival’ style with moulded framed panels of embossed floral ornament on the sides. Single pedal and lyre. Lockable cover of softwood with veneered walnut sides and ebonised top. Soundboard ebonised with four soundholes, each of seven plain holes. Sloping hitchplank (LH side) and wrestplank (RH side) veneered in ?ash. Drilled wrestpins diameter 6.9mm. Both planks reinforced with iron bolts passing through structure to bottom boards; thirteen each end. Two damper-rails, pivoted on plated iron arms each end, and raised by central lifterrods connected to the pedal. Thirty-five courses of strings: nineteen quadruple-strung, fifteen trichord, and one bichord. Five sets of individual turned chessmen bridges (?hornbeam) linked by shared bases and wire bearings. Bridges for B, c, a♯, and for g♯1/d2 stained black. Bridges c.38mm high, wire diameter 3.4mm (nut wire diameter 5mm). Some of the treble strings have individual nuts for adjusting string length. LH proximal set of eight bridges, for notes: D, F, G, A, B, c♯, d♯, f. Central distal set of ten bridges, giving two pitches each, notes: g1/c1, a1/d1, b1/e1, c2/f 1, c♯2/f♯1, d2/g♯1, e2/a♯1, f 2/g2, f♯ 2/a2, g♯ 2/b2. LH distal set of two bridges, for notes: a♯2* and c3*. RH proximal set of eighteen bridges, for notes: E, F♯, G♯, A♯, c, d, e, f ♯, g, g♯, a, a♯, b, c♯1, d♯1, d♯2*, c♯ 3*. RH distal set of three bridges, giving two pitches each, for notes: d3, d♯2, e3. (*The two courses giving a♯2, c3, c♯3, d♯3 are subdivided using three small additional bridges and two piano-style ‘agrafes’ bolted through the soundboard to the framing below.) Commentary The largest and most fully developed form of dulcimer, invented by Venczel József Schunda (1845–1923) in the 1870s. The museum also holds the accompanying photograph of a cimbalom ensemble using another cimbalom by Schunda. Provenance Gift of Tristram Fry, 1965 References None located
169 d♯3 162 e3
28
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Cimbalom, Venczel József Schunda, RCM 308
Cimbalom Ensemble (see Commentary) RCM Museum of Instruments 29
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RCM 344 Epinette des Vosges A Lambert, Val d’Ajol, c.1800
RCM 58 Epinette des Vosges French, 19th century
Inscriptions Branded on soundboard: A. LAMBERT / A LA FEUILLÉE
Inscriptions None
Brief Description Epinette des Vosges, a box-zither with two stopped strings and three drone strings of metal Dimensions : 485 : at tail 61.5, at nut 48.5 : at tail 30, at nut 23 : 378 Description Front, back and sides of cherrywood. Two soundholes, one heart-shaped, the other a quatrefoil; bridge and nut of wire. Front and back overlap sides. Four small wire nails protrude from underside to prevent movement of instrument as it is played. Pegbox of beech; fourteen diatonic wire frets of staple form. Distance of frets from nut: 37, 75, 94, 124, 149, 164, 186, 206, 222, 233, 250, 263, 272, 284mm. Commentary These small zithers were played with a plectrum of quill or whalebone; the melody strings were stopped with a small wooden rod to play in unison, or with the thumb and first two fingers together to play in thirds.
Brief Description Epinette des Vosges, a box-zither with two stopped strings and three drone strings Dimensions : 501 : at tail 70, at nut 55 : 21 : 382 Description Front of ?cherrywood with two soundhole piercings, one spade-shaped, the other a quatrefoil in a circle; bridge and nut of wire. Back and sides of cherrywood; sides inlaid with two ornamental strips of boxwood. Pegbox with rudimentary scroll and pegs of ?hornbeam; fourteen diatonic wire frets of staple form. Distance of frets from nut: 31.5, 71, 92, 125, 153, 165, 188, 207, 225, 237, 255, 264, 272, 287.5mm. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1896 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI Wells 1984, p.14
Provenance Gift of Miss Eastman, 1973 References Wells 1984, p.14
Epinette des Vosges, RCM 344 [above]; Epinette des Vosges, RCM 58 [below] 30
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RCM 163 Zither South German or Austrian, 19th century Inscriptions Initials on interior of side under fingerboard: M.D. Brief description Asymmetrical shallow box-zither with five stopped strings and 25 open strings Dimensions : 502 : 308.5 (narrower part 194½) : 31.5 excluding feet : stopped strings 388; open strings: shortest 391, longest 440 Description Soundbox of coniferous wood veneered in rosewood with the underside ebonised, standing on three ball feet of ?ivory; 26 metal frets, seventeen over full width of finger-
board; nut also of fret wire. Three semi-tones omitted at top end of fingerboard: f ♯ 3, g♯3, a♯3; fret markers (studs of mother-of-pearl) centrally positioned behind the fifth, ninth and twelfth frets, and on bass side behind the second, seventh and fourteenth frets. Stopped strings tuned by guitar-style machine screws with ivory pegheads; nuts for all strings formed by vertical pins. Open strings tuned with oblong-headed wrestpins. The strings pass over a wire to define their speaking length, and are hitched to an ebonised comb, which also acts as a bridge, at the other end of the soundbox. Diameter of soundhole: 80mm. Commentary Zither in ‘Salzburg’ form, the melody strings plucked with a thumb plectrum and the accompaniment by the fingers. Provenance Unknown, given before 1952 References Wells 1984, p.14
Zither, South German or Austrian, RCM 163
31
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RCM 127 Streichmelodion ?Moravian, late 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Streichmelodion, a bowed zither with four metal strings, laid on a table for playing Dimensions : 602 : 317 : upper bouts 206, middle bouts 112, lower bouts 264 : 29 : 366 (distance to octave fret 181) Description Outline with sloping shoulders; the corners form inturned points. Front two-piece, of fine to medium grain; thin elongated f-shaped soundholes; single purfling front and back; the front varnish golden, the back reddish. Back of one piece of maple of moderate curl; three turned bone
acorn-shaped feet, one each side of upper bouts and one at back of pegbox. Plain maple neck. Asymmetrical pegbox with ebonised front face, the back carved as a stylised leaf. Zither tuning pins. The orientation of strings is the reverse of that on a violin, the treble strings lying nearest to the player. Metal frets, thirty in all, stapled to ebony fingerboard; inlaid fret markers of mother-of-pearl discs at frets five, nine, twelve, and fifteen. Nut of fret wire, with vertical metal guide-pins behind instead of grooves in nut; bridge top also inlaid with fret wire. Commentary The Streichmelodion (originally called the Breitoline) was invented by Leopold Breit in Brno in 1856; it was preceded by Petzmayer’s Streichzither (1823). From 1900 its successor the Schossgeige, in violin form, was adopted, as well as Schossbratschen and Cellomelodions. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVII
Streichmelodion, ?Moravian, RCM 127
32
32
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RCM 213 Tambourin de Béarn French, 1754
References Gétreau 2005a, pp.83–4 & ill.
Inscriptions On back, in red paint on a green ground: LE. I. AVRIL / 1.7.54. Brief description A mid 18th-century tambourin à cordes or stringed drum with six gut strings Dimensions : 820 : at top 217, at bottom 120 : 75 : 698 : upper 25.5; lower 18.8 Description Front of coniferous wood of very fine grain; two leather/vellum roses, 98mm and 88mm in diameter, and between them an irregular-looking coat-of-arms of which the blazon appears to be: ‘Or, in dexter chief the sun in splendour, in fess a spur sable, in base a lion reversed demi-salient gules over a well, to sinister a lion rampant of the third above a tower, the well and tower proper, the shield surmounted by a coronet, the whole supported by two maidens on a compartment of florid scroll-work’ (personal communication from Andrew Garrett). Gilded floral designs on front and sides. Sides and back of cherrywood. Front and back are each stiffened with four transverse bars. The six strings are hitched to ?boxwood buttons at the tail, pass over an ebony saddle to the bridges, and at the top over another saddle to the boxwood pegs in the end of the top-block.
Tambourin de Béarn, French, RCM 213: detail of coat of arms
Commentary An instrument of the courtly pastoral tradition imitating the rustic stringed drum of the Béarnais region in southern France; with its strings tuned to tonic and dominant, it would have been played with the three-holed galoubet. It has been suggested that the decoration might indicate an association with a wedding (Gétreau 2005); alternatively, the arms on the escutcheon might be of the so-called canting variety, of a significance more obvious to a francophone, involving one or more puns on le soleil, un éperon, un puits, une tour and deux lions rouges. In view of the specific, although possibly not original, date painted on the instrument, the intention might have been to practise on player or listener some sort of poisson d’avril. The coat of arms could be later than the instrument. At the upper (tuning-peg) end the bridge has a ledge with a wire staple or agrafe for each string to increase the down-bearing pressure. In front of the lower bridge there are metal plates on the sides which may have held a single metal rod across the strings to increase down-bearing. This angle of down-bearing would have been extreme and the plates look like later additions. If the rod were in place the string length would be shortened to 667mm. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899 Tambourin de Béarn, French, RCM 213 33
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RCM 297 Aeolian Harp English, c.1790
RCM 364 Aeolian Harp William Rolfe, London, c.1800
Inscriptions None
Inscriptions In ink on cover: William Rolfe’s New Invented Eolian Harp / N o 112 Cheapside
Brief description Aeolian harp, a box-zither designed to be placed in the opening below a sash window and sounded by a draught of air passing over it
Brief description Twelve-stringed Aeolian harp for use below a sash window
Dimensions : 819 : 120 : 72 : max 50, min 26.6 : 559
Dimensions : 810 : 122 : 77.7 : max 53, min 26 : 656
Description Rectangular soundbox, wedged-shaped in cross-section; cover of coniferous wood, supported on end blocks to allow the passage of air across the strings. Soundboard and soundhole framed with red and black painted lines; the whole instrument varnished. Two movable bridges of simple triangular section; twelve gut strings. The cover is not full length so that the wrestpins are accessible without removing it. Height of bridges: 11.5mm; diameter of soundhole: 39mm.
Description Rectangular soundbox of maple varnished pale gold, of wedge-shaped cross-section; edges and soundhole framed with painted black lines. Two movable black-stained bridges cut out underneath. Cover 779mm long of yellow pine on maple end blocks, with four iron pins that locate in holes in soundboard. In fitted and lined mahogany box with edging of boxwood lines.
Commentary The strings should be of a range of different diameters, so as to favour different harmonics.
References None located
Provenance Bequeathed by Vincent Desborough before 1977
Provenance Gift of Mrs E P Alexander (née Wilson), before 1964 References Wells 1984, p.14
Aeolian harp, English, RCM 297 [above]; Aeolian harp, William Rolfe, RCM 364 [below] 34
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H
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RCM 260 Small Harp Welsh, early 19th century Inscriptions Old paper label on RH stave nearest soundboard, handwritten: Antique Welsh Hp/XVII century Brief description Small Welsh harp with twenty strings Dimensions : 1051 : 615 : at top 73, at bottom 240 : at top 57, at bottom 145 : from staple to centre of wrestpin 1 (833)
8 418
15 186
2 781
9 371
16 166
3 716
10 329
17 149
4 649
11 289
18 133
5 584
12 257
19 119
6 525
13 231
20 106
7 470
14 206
Description Twenty peg holes in soundboard; one plugged tuningpin hole in neck for longest string. Shallow front of slabcut coniferous wood with grain running lengthways; transversely arched; flat lengthways. Staple above each bridge-pin hole. Six soundholes in three pairs, slightly bevelled above and below. Straight-sided back of five ?beech staves with wider central stave. Ogee mouldings applied to top and bottom edges of back and around edges of soundbox; bottom edge of soundbox covered with larger ogee mouldings with traces of gilding; bottom end of soundbox closed. Turned and fluted top-block with traces of gilding. Neck tenoned to it and pegged with a nail through the tenon; small fluted scroll crest on treble section of neck; bass end of neck tenoned into pillar. Straight pillar with fluted scroll finial and stopped ogee mouldings on inside edges. Both scrolls have traces of gilding. Old, possibly original, tapered iron reinforcement strip nailed to underside of neck from treble end to note 15 to strengthen area of short grain. Strings attached to RH side of neck; square-headed wrestpins. Brownish-black paint over a red finish which is exposed in many places. Commentary The harp was originally painted red with gilding of mouldings, scrolls and fluting; it was probably made as a toy imitating the form of a full-size Welsh harp. It is strung in brass wire at present, all of the same gauge. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, according to A H Frere’s 1926 list; if so, it must have been given after 1899. According to Ann Griffiths (personal communication), it may have been John Thomas’s first harp, acquired by his 36
father c.1833–4 in Newton Nottage, Porthcawl, from the widow of Thomas Evans (1728–1819), the harpist and composer of ‘Y Ferch o’r Scer’ (‘The Maid of Scer’). See also Harp RCM 295. References ?Griffith 1896, p.149 Colson ?1936, ill. p.262 Rimmer 1965, pp.96–102 & ill. Baines 1966, p.65 & ill. Grove 1984, v.2 p.140 Wells 1984, p.14
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Small harp, Welsh, RCM 260 37
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RCM 295 Welsh Triple Harp Bassett Jones, Cardiff, 1838 Inscriptions Engraved on brass plate on neck: Rif 4 Cymreigyddion y Fenni/ I JOHN THOMAS yn Unarddeg Oed/Am Ragori ar y Delyn./ HYDREF 1838/Bassett Jones/Gwneuthurwr/Caerdydd/Rif 115 [No. 4. Abergavenny Welsh Gathering. To John Thomas, aged eleven, for excellence on the harp. October 1838. Bassett Jones, maker, Cardiff. No. 115.] Brief description Welsh triple harp, designed to be played on the right shoulder Dimensions : 2035 : 1895 : 1150 : 1055 : at top 120, at bottom 485 : at top 80, at bottom 335 : (the row of longer diatonic strings: see Description) f2
1
1535 B1
14 821 a
26 337
2
1506 C
15 766 b
27 315 g2
3
1475 D
16 792 c1
28 292 a2
4
1435 E
17 660 d1
29 272 b2
5
1388 F
18 612 e1
30 255 c3
6
1331 G
19 565 f 1
31 240 d3
7
1274 A
20 523 g1
32 225 e3
8
1207 B
21 485 a1
33 214
9
1141 c
22 451 b1
34 202 g3
10
1074 d
23 420 c2
35 192 a3
11
1007 e
24 390 d2
36 175 b3
12
943 f
25 364 e2
37 154 c4
f3
13 882 g Description Three rows of strings: two outer diatonic rows, one of 37 strings, the other of 30 beginning at B, and a central chromatic row of 32, beginning at F♯. There are eight plugged unused holes on the bridge-strip at the lower end of the shorter diatonic row. Soundboard cross-grained, framed with thin painted black lines: bridge-strip and edges moulded and gilded. Back of nine staves. Neck and pillar of ?beech, also with thin black outlining. Pillar with carved and gilded volutes and acanthus at top and bottom. Carved and gilded acorns and oak leaves along top of neck and across lower end of soundboard. Soundbox has turned and scalloped top-block forming junction to neck. Semi-opaque reddish varnish. Commentary This harp is unusual in having been designed to be played on the right shoulder. Bassett Jones worked in Smith Street, Cardiff. 38
The triple harp originated in Italy in the late 16th century; although superseded elsewhere by the pedal harp at the end of the 18th century, it survived in Wales, thereby also preserving elements of baroque harp performance practice. The outer rows of strings were tuned as unisons, which enabled very rapid playing of repeated notes.
John Thomas (1826–1913), harpist and composer (Bergamasco, St. Petersburg). © Royal Society of Musicians
Provenance Gift of General Sir Gwilym Ivor Thomas, 1957; the harp was won by his father, John Thomas (1826–1913), harpist and composer, at the age of twelve (not eleven as stated in the inscription). After studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where he had to change to the pedal harp, he was appointed professor there and at the RCM, also Harpist to Queen Victoria, then to King Edward VII. Besides performing for some sixty years in London (for example at the Royal Italian Opera), and making successful concert tours abroad 1852–62 (impressing Berlioz), he published arrangements and his own compositions and promoted Welsh music (see Oxford DNB 2004; also Rensch 1989, pp.208–10). His son also presented a marble bust of John Thomas, by William Davies, 1863, his harp platform and stool (now lost), manuscripts of his compositions and photographs. See also Harp RCM 260. References Griffith 1896, p.149 Baines 1966, p.65 & ill. Rensch 1969, pl.33b Wells 1984, p.14 Rensch 1989, pp.134, 208 Droysen-Reber 1999, pp.34, 304 Oxford DNB 2004, v.54, p.350
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Welsh triple harp, Bassett Jones, RCM 295: with detail of the interior of the sound box; see also colour plate, p.5 39
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RCM 114 Pedal Harp Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1775 Inscriptions Brand at top end of front: COUSINEAU Brief description Single-action pedal harp with 34 strings and crochet (hook) action Dimensions : 1662, without feet 1625 : 1150 : 810 : at top 112, at bottom 321 : at top 62, at bottom 178 , : 242 : 1 1402
12
932
23 402
2 1368
13
879
24 370
3 1330
14
820
25 342
4 1295
15
757
26 314
5 1253
16
696
27 290
6 1214
17
636
28 264
7 1172
18
589
29 240
8 1125
19
545
30 216
9 1080
20
505
31 192
10 1034
21
468
32 168
11
22
434
33 150
982
34 128 Description Grain of soundboard laid crossways; gilded bridge-strip with staples to define speaking length of strings. Four soundholes, each consisting of six holes around a central hole. Soundboard decorated with painted birds, insects and flowers; scalloped gilded band-edging, also along bridge-strip. Back of seven staves of maple of fine curl; bottom of soundbox closed. Neck and action-cover of ebonised limewood. Acanthus volute crested and embellished with flowers and garlands, both carved and composition, finished with gold and silver leaf, and bronze powders. Gilded pillar entwined with carved flowers, painted and gilded. Four later gilded claw feet. Seven iron folding pedals, operating 29 crochets. Drilled tuning-pins with tapered square heads and shoulders. Nuts formed of iron pins narrowed to locate strings, and with decorative cut-glass heads; some are replacements. Crochets mounted on threaded rods for height adjustment. Secondary nuts formed of individual notched iron inserts lie below the crochets. Tuned in E♭; no action fitted for the two highest and three lowest strings. Commentary This harp by Georges Cousineau (1733–1800) has one of the earliest French harp mechanisms, of the type developed by Jean-Henri Naderman (1734–99); the hooks pull 40
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 114: detail of volute
the strings inwards against the secondary nuts. Cousineau père was later joined by his son Jacques-Georges (1760–1836). Besides making improvements to the mechanism of the harp (see RCM 199), the Cousineaus sold other instruments and published harp music and tutors. These included the Méthode de Harpe… by Cousineau fils, who was also a teacher, composer and harpist, performing at the Paris Opéra; in 1805 he became Luthier and then Maître de Harpe to the Empress Josephine (see Droysen-Reber 1999, p.298). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXI Wells 1984, p.14
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 114: detail with action cover removed
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Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 114: detail of crochets
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 114; see also colour plate, p.3
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 114: detail of lower end 41
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RCM 199 Pedal Harp Georges and Jacques-Georges Cousineau, Paris, c.1785 Inscriptions Handwritten on ribbon painted on signboard: COUSINEAU PERE ET FILS LUTHIERS DE LA REINE Handwritten at top of soundbox inside action housing: N o 10 Engraved on pierced brass bearing-plate of action: COUSINEAU PERE ET FILS A PARIS Brief description Single-action pedal harp with 35 strings and Cousineau’s béquille (crutch) action Dimensions : 1639, without feet 1617 : 1087 : 917 : at top 105, at bottom 347 : at top 58, at bottom 179 : front to back 343, width 445 : 1 1418
13 926
25 360
2 1390
14 868
26 330
3 1354
15 803
27 301
4 1318
16 740
28 277
5 1284
17 675
29 248
6 1244
18 623
30 228
7 1203
19 575
31 205
8 1161
20 530
32 182
9 1120
21 492
33 161
10 1076
22 454
34 138
11 1030
23 421
35 115
12
24 388
982
Description Soundboard cross-grained; no soundholes; edges and bridge-strip bordered with chequered banding of motherof-pearl and ebony. The soundboard is decorated with three oil paintings below the inscription: at the top, a coastal scene with strand, two boats and figures; in the middle an Arcadian landscape with two figures; and at the bottom a tower, bridge, mill and stream with a foreground figure. Back of nine staves of figured maple, ebonised. Mechanism to operate the béquilles is underglazed and gilded cover on neck. Edges of neck and pillar decorated with guilloche ornament. Acanthus volute with pendants from centres; further acanthus decoration at base of pillar and on top of pedal-box; ornament both carved and composition. Neck, pillar and pedal-box gessoed and gilded. Seven folding pedals of iron. Closed bottom to soundbox; four original iron feet, with traces of gilding. 42
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 199: detail with part of action cover removed
Tuning-pins with square tapered heads with traces of gilding. Adjustable nuts in the form of iron studs mounted on brass plates, sliding against fixed plates, and moved by a threaded rod; the rods have squared heads for adjustment by a watch-key. The béquille action, instead of pulling the string down onto a second nut or fret to raise the pitch a semitone, pinches the string laterally between two levers rotating in opposite directions. This principle was to be improved and simplified by Erard with his rotating fourchette discs, where two tines pinch the string, using one moving part, The ‘bell-cranks’, transmitting the pull of the pedals to the axles of the béquilles, share a common axle at the pillar end of the neck, and the connecting rods for each set of béquilles are returned by a spiral spring at the soundbox end of the neck. The seven springs are tensioned by ratchets. Tuned in E♭; there is no action for the top two strings. Commentary There is a set of plugged tuning-pin holes in the neck, and the brass plate carrying the adjustable nuts does not fit into the layout and style of the neck with the same elegance as the rest of the design. Originally the harp probably had simpler nut pins, fixed directly into the neck. The ebonising of the back may also date from this modification; the black varnish is laid onto figured maple, and there is no other ebonising on the instrument. Cousineau’s béquille mechanism was an improvement upon the earlier crochet system, holding the string more firmly, so the difference in timbre between the open and ‘stopped’ strings was reduced. This fine harp is one of a small number that were decorated with scenes rather than floral motifs and ornament. The paintings reflect the predilection amongst French artists of the period for working after earlier Flemish styles. See also Harp RCM 114. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899 References Baines 1966, p.65 & ill. Rensch 1969, pl.33b Wells 1984, pp.13–14 & ill.
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Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 199: detail of volute and béquilles
Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 199: detail of soundboard painting, upper section Pedal harp, Cousineau, RCM 199; see also colour plate, p.4 43
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RCM 298 Pedal Harp Sebastian Erard, London, 1800 Inscriptions Engraved on action cover: Sebastian Erard’s PATENT N o. 333./N o 18 Great Marlborough Street LONDON Engraved on plaque on top of capital: This harp was made about the year 1800./It was originally purchased by/Madame de Konssecy [sic]/who afterwards became Mrs. Maitland. [sic]/It was subsequently purchased by George Coats,/1ST BARON GLENTANAR, & given to his daughter/The Honourable M RS Lionel Walrond, in 1935./This lady gave it to her sister, Maud, Duchess of Wellington. Brief description Single-action pedal harp with 42 strings and Erard’s fourchette (fork) action Dimensions : 1717, without feet 1699 : 1205 : 1016 : at top 90, at bottom 362 : at top 62, at bottom 187 : front to back 305, width 386 : 1 1508
15 875
29 292
2 1472
16 812
30 268
3 1437
17 754
31 247
4 1404
18 690
32 228
5 1368
19 632
33 207
6 1328
20 583
34 190
7 1292
21 537
35 172
8 1250
22 497
36 156
9 1208
23 461
37 140
10 1159
24 428
38 124
11 1107
25 397
39 112
12 1055
26 367
40 101
13
995
27 342
41
88
14
935
28 314
42
79
Description Soundboard cross-grained, decorated with painted flowers, urns and trophies, in neo-classical style; edges and bridge-strip gilded. Back of semicircular section ebonised, with five hinged swell shutters. Pillar ebonised with fluting gilded. Capital with three ram’s heads linked by garlands, with swags above, gilded. Neck ebonised, with gilded edge mouldings. Action consists of 39 fourchettes operated by seven pedals; the eighth pedal controls the swell shutters in the back. Sliding adjustable nuts fixed by two set-screws each. Tuned in E♭; the top three notes have no action and fixed nuts. Square-topped tuning-pins, with shoulders; the end of each string held in a slot instead of a drilled hole.
44
Commentary Sebastian Erard (1752–1831), one of the most important inventors in musical history, transformed both the early piano and the pedal harp. His single action, patented in 1794 with other radical improvements in construction, introduced a rotating fourchette to pinch and raise the pitch by a semitone. This was the basis of all succeeding pedal harp actions, to be followed by the addition of a second row of fourchettes to raise the pitch a further semitone in his double action (1810). These developments were described and illustrated by his nephew and successor, Pierre Erard, in The Harp in its Present Improved State Compared with the Original Pedal Harp (1821), a copy of which is in the RCM Library. The Museum also holds the Harp Stock-books of the London firm of Erard, which were purchased with the aid of generous grants and individual donations in 1994. The Stock-books cover the sales of 6,862 harps from c.1798–1917. The earliest entries are brief and that for no.333 simply records the purchaser’s name, though the harp can be dated to 1800 from other entries: no.357 was bought by The Princess of Wales in November 1800. A note added to the entry for no.333, ‘Now Mrs Maitland’, is likely to refer to a subsequent owner of the harp rather than to a change of name for Mme de Ronssecy, judging from notes in other entries. Later entries are more detailed and provide a wealth of information on the development of successive models and on their distinguished purchasers worldwide (Wells 1994, pp.17–19). Provenance Presented by Lady Anne Rhys, 1949. According to the Erard Stock-book entry, the harp was originally purchased by ‘Me de Ronssecy’, who was one of the harpist émigrés active in London in the 1790s as a teacher, also publishing compositions for the harp c.1800. Mme de Ronssecy bought several Erard harps, probably acting as an agent for pupils, so may not have owned no.333. Subsequent owners were Mrs Maitland; George Coats, 1st Baron Glentanar (1849–1918); his daughter Charlotte, The Honourable Mrs Lionel Walrond; her sister, Maud, Duchess of Wellington (died 1946); and the Duchess’s daughter, Lady Anne Rhys. References Wells 1984, p.14 Wells 1994, p.18
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Pedal harp, Erard, RCM 298; see also colour plate, p.5 45
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Harp Stock-books of the London firm of Erard, RCM 497: entries for harps 1017–1025, of which the last two were sold to an agent in Calcutta RCM Museum of Instruments
Sebastian Erard (1752–1831) Engraving by Charles Achille d’Hardiviller (1830) RCM Centre for Performance History 46
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RCM 309 Pedal Harp Jacob and James Erat, London, c.1830 Inscriptions Engraved on brass cover plate: J. & J. ERAT. PATENT HARP/Manufacturers./23 Berners Str t London. N o1813 [with the royal arms]
Provenance No records found; given before 1964 References None located
Brief description Double-action pedal harp with 43 strings and Erard’s fourchette (fork) action Dimensions : 1746, without feet 1724 : 1215 : 970 : at top 97, at bottom 363 : at top 58, at bottom 175 : front to back 334, width 391 : 1 1472
16 804
30 245
2 1440
17 739
31 227
3 1406
18 668
32 208
4 1375
19 610
33 193
5 1341
20 555
34 176
6 1300
21 510
35 162
7 1252
22 469
36 150
8 1216
23 432
37 136
9 1200
24 408
38 125
10 1150
25 370
39 112
11 1094
26 345
40 105
12 1039
27 318
41
95
13
993
28 292
42
80
14
933
29 268
43
70
15
866
Description Imitation of Erard’s Grecian double-action harp (patent of 1810) in simulated satinwood, with neoclassical gilt ornament, both carved and composition. Soundboard diagonally laid and painted pale yellow with gilded mouldings along sides. Fluted pillar with winged caryatids on capital, their hands joined with wreaths, and winged figures with lyres each side of pillar at base. Back of semicircular section with five swell shutters. Action consists of two rows of 42 fourchettes; adjustable nuts with slots and two set-screws each. Tuned in C♭; compass E♭1 to e♭4. The top note has no mechanism or adjustable nut; the lowest twelve notes have fixed nuts; the lowest eighteen pairs of fourchette discs have exposed linkages on the outer surface of the neck. Commentary The swell shutters have been removed. The eight lowest nut pins are in a separate row indicating the use of wound strings; there are nine as presently strung.
Pedal harp, Erat, RCM 309 47
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RCM 373 Pedal Harp Johann Andreas Stumpff, London, c.1837 Inscriptions Engraved on brass cover plate on neck: PATENT HARP, INVENTED BY / J. A. Stumpff. LONDON / N o 44, Great Portland St. Portland Place. On LH side, below the royal arms: Maker, / TO HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN &c. On underside of pedal box, handwritten in ink: JAS. / No: 1306; in pencil: Miss Grey, midsummer /1839 On edge of internal frame of soundbox visible through swell shutter, handwritten in ink on paper label: 1306 Brief description Double-action pedal harp with 44 strings and Erard’s fourchette (fork) action Dimensions : 1742, without feet 1725 : 1229 : 1009 : at top 82, at bottom 364 : at top 62, at bottom 202 : front to back 338, width 394 : 1
1461
16 799
31 235
2
1430
17 735
32 217
3
1398
18 675
33 198
4
1367
19 615
34 182
5
1334
20 592
35 165
6
1300
21 512
36 152
7
1264
22 472
37 140
8
1228
23 434
38 128
9
1186
24 405
39 117
10
1145
25 375
40 108
11
1094
26 347
41
98
12
1040
27 322
42
89
13
983
28 300
43
81
14
924
29 275
44
75
15
863
30 255
Description Soundboard cross-grained, painted pale yellow with bridge-strip and edges gilded. The rest of the instrument painted to simulate satinwood and with gilded neoclassical ornament, both carved and in composition, in close imitation of Erard’s Grecian harps. Back of semicircular section built of laminations of limewood. Neck has gilded lines and mouldings. The fluted pillar has a capital with three winged caryatids, their hands linked with wreaths: above them gryphons supporting lyres. Top of pedalbox has a hippocampus each side of pillar; flowers and musical trophies on swell shutters. Action, controlled by seven brass pedals with two positions, consists of two rows of 48
fourchettes, one row of 43, the other of 42; the top string has no action and no adjustable nut; the string below has only one fourchette disc operated by the first position of the pedal. The adjustable nuts are on double-slotted brass plates with two set-screws each. The lowest ten strings have fixed nut pins. Tuning pins are square-headed, without taper or shoulder, and drilled. Tuned in C♭; lowest note E♭1. Commentary Stumpff’s imitation of Erard’s patent double action of 1810, with minor changes (see RCM 298). The lowest eight strings are wound at present; originally, it would appear, the lowest ten were wound. The inscriptions seem to indicate purchase by Miss Grey in 1839 of a harp made before the accession of Queen Victoria (in June 1837). Johann Andreas Stumpff (1769–1846) was born in Ruhla, Thuringia, where he trained under his father, a piano maker (as did his brother Johann Georg, who continued the business); leaving home to travel, Johann Andreas eventually emigrated in 1790 to London where he established a harp and piano business. In 1812 he sold his Henry Street premises to Broadwoods and moved to Great Portland Street; the business ceased after his death. He made frequent visits to the Continent, and became a generous friend of Beethoven, Constanze Mozart and Weber. As a poet, Stumpff was received into Goethe’s circle, and he also formed a significant collection, including manuscripts of Mozart’s last ten string quartets and of Beethoven; a highly respected figure in London, he became the only German member of the Royal Institution in 1832. His correspondence shows that in 1827 a double-action harp might cost £105 and that his trade extended to St Petersburg and possibly India (Willetts 1977, pp.29–32). A letter from James Shudi Broadwood shows that Stumpff ‘… long worked with Old Erard’ (Wainwright 1982, p.143). Provenance Gift of Dr Frederick Wood, 1978, with a maple-wood box, RCM 373a, veneered in satinwood, 382mm long, to hold strings and tuning key. Since the number (992) on it does not match that on the harp, and there are only 36 slots for strings, it was probably associated originally with a smaller and earlier single-action harp. References Wells 1984, p.14
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Pedal harp, Stumpff, RCM 373: inscription and fourchettes
Pedal harp, Stumpff, RCM 373: detail of hippocampus on pedalbox
Pedal harp, Stumpff, RCM 373
Pedal harp, Stumpff, RCM 373: inscription on underside of pedalbox
49
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RCM 108 Portable Irish Harp John Egan, Dublin, c.1829 Inscriptions Engraved on brass action cover on LH side of neck: J. Egan 30 Dawson St. Dublin / Harp Maker by Special Appointment to His Most Gracious Majesty George IV th/& the Royal Family. / N o 1904 [with the royal arms] Brief description Small gut-strung harp with 33 strings, resembling in size and outline the traditional wire-strung diatonic Irish harp but with a dital-operated single action with Erard-style fourchettes Dimensions : 904 : 858 : 546 : at top 76, at bottom 218 : at top 46, at bottom 115 : 1 833
12 566
23 256
2 821
13 534
24 240
3 806
14 504
25 221
4 787
15 470
26 206
5 765
16 440
27 191
6 746
17 407
28 176
7 714
18 375
29 155
8 685
19 345
30 146
9 655
20 321
31 131
10 630
21 298
32 114
11 598
22 275
33
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX Armstrong 1908, p.145 Skinner 1933, p.116 Colson ?1936, ill. p.263 Wells 1984, p.14
94
Description Four lowest strings wound. Grain of soundboard runs crossways with only slight transverse arching. Buttonheaded bridge-strip pegs except for the two lowest strings, which are too close to the pillar so they have stopper knots on underside of the soundboard. Soundbox of semicircular section, laminated of two skins of ?lime c.2mm thick; one crescent-shaped transverse reinforcing bar; three pairs of soundholes along centre of back. Lower end of soundbox open. There is an extendable wooden leg, with a brass cross-piece for foot, to take the weight of the instrument when it is held on the player’s lap. Fastened to the inner wall of the back, it slides under two iron staples and can be fixed with a thumbscrew which protrudes from the lower end of the back. Seven ditals of ivory, engraved with note names, protrude from a brass plate on the inner face of the hollow pillar; the plate is slotted to latch the ditals when depressed. Tuned in E♭; compass E♭ to b♭3. The whole instrument is painted green over a paler green undercoat and decorated with running foliage of shamrock between gold lines; bridge-strip and edges of soundboard are gilded. 50
Commentary John Egan invented his Portable Irish Harp in 1819 for amateurs, adopting Erard’s single action combined with ditals set in the curved pillar. The Museum also holds a copy of Egan’s advertisement, which claims that his harp, ‘tho’ possessing all the general advantages of that instrument [the pedal harp], is not One-third of its Price!’. Three models at different prices were sold, the cheapest, ‘without the ivory Stops’, for £12. The inscription on harp no.1920 (Belle Skinner collection) indicates that it was made after the accession of William IV in 1830, so RCM 108, no.1904, probably dates from c.1829.
John Egan’s advertisement for his Portable Irish Harp; see also p.52 RCM Museum of Instruments
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Portable Irish Harp, Egan, RCM 108; see also colour plate, p.2 51
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John Egan’s advertisement for his Portable Irish Harp; see also p.50 RCM Museum of Instruments 52
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L C M N M R L
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RCM 13 Lute Adam Ulman, Venice, second half of 16th century Inscriptions Printed label: Adam Ulman in Venetia Handwritten on capping-strip: 13
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.VIII de la Condamine 1926, ill. p.46 Wells 1984, p.12 Toffolo 1987, pp.97 & 220
Brief description Renaissance lute, Venetian, much-altered and converted to guitar stringing Dimensions : 898 (not including screw eye in tail) : 516 (to original neck joint 487) : 328 : 161 : 626 Description Later front, bookmatched, with wide grain at sides; black edging. Early rose, probably the original one associated with the back, inserted in front; curvilinear foliate design of trefoil leaves and tendrils; chip-carved integral collar; eight small bars under rose which do not extend to front. Only three main bars across front, which is fixed with two treenails to top-block. Points of original fingerboard (?rosewood) survive. Back of semi-circular transverse section; eleven ribs, separated with black lines; ivory capping-strip. Narrow parchment or vellum strips inside, reinforcing rib joints. Later neck and pegbox covered in re-used ebony and ivory ‘grotesque’ marquetry from another source, featuring foliage, putti playing viol and ?shawm, deer and hounds; background of ivory, design in ebony with incised lines whitened. Some pieces are from the sides of a lute-style pegbox, other pieces from a fingerboard of another instrument. The marquetry on the back of the neck has been laid in eight irregular strips to enable it to curve in two directions on the concave narrowing of the neck. A blank oval plaque is inserted into the lower end of the fingerboard marquetry. Seven metal frets. The guitar bridge stands on a wide platform of marquetry on a coniferous ground-work with traces of paper between; the background of this marquetry is ebony and the pattern and workmanship cruder and later. The tie-bridge is drilled for five single stopped strings and two off-fingerboard diapasons. The guitar-style pegbox has an offset pegbox for the basses, box-like in construction to raise the nut and covered in more scraps of marquetry. Width of current fingerboard: at neck joint 85.6mm, at nut 41.5mm; width of original fingerboard at neck: c.104mm. Soundhole diameter: 108mm; centre from tail: 318mm. Commentary This may be the only surviving instrument by Adam Ulman; unfortunately it has suffered at least two stages of conversion to quasi-guitar states. The decoration applied to the pegbox and neck could be from a German instrument, possibly one by Hans Christoph Fleischer (information from Friedemann Hellwig).
54
Lute, Adam Ulman, RCM 13: detail of label
Lute, Adam Ulman, RCM 13: detail of rose
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Lute, Adam Ulman, RCM 13: front, side and back
Lute, Adam Ulman, RCM 13: details of pegbox, front, back 55
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RCM 9 Lute ?Padua, c.1580, labelled Vendelinus Tieffenbruker Inscriptions Spurious printed label: In Padua Vendelinus Tieffenbruker [see Commentary] Brief description Renaissance lute altered to a bass mandolin Dimensions : 954, without hitchbuttons 947 : 491 to original neck joint; to current neck joint at front 505 : 329 : 149 : 588½ (twice distance to octave fret 580) Description Altered first to seven double courses with seven ivory hitchbuttons in tail, but current nut and bridge are notched for six double courses. Two-piece later front, medium grain, very thick. Layered paper rose with terraces of diminishing height; the layers have gothic piercings, the walls plain holes. Bevelled edge to soundhole; collar of alternate light and dark triangles of pale wood and black mastic. Black edging to front; narrow loose bridge. Later inlaid plectrum-guard. Back of eleven ribs of alternate ebony and ivory with very fine black and white lines between; semi-elliptical in transverse section;
joints lined with parchment with initial letters in red and blue. Shallow capping-strip of ebony, cut down when front was bent back in mandolin style. Remains of points of earlier fingerboard at top of front (width 101mm). Guitar-style peghead; posterior pegs of rosewood with ivory buttons. Later neck of ?beech ebonised, inlaid with ebony and ivory lines. Later ebony fingerboard edged with ?kingwood; eight frets in sawcuts, eight more glued to front; ivory nut notched for six pairs of strings. Width of original neck at joint: 101mm. Width of later fingerboard at joint: 65.2mm, at nut 54.8mm. Soundhole diameter: 82.7mm; centre from tail 300mm. Bend in front to tail: 135mm. Mark of a fixed bridge at approximately 100mm from tail. Commentary The back is from the late 16th century and could be by Wendelin Tieffenbrucker (Vendelio Venere I), but the label is spurious. Instruments from his workshop are labelled: ‘IN PADOVA Vvendelio Venere / de Leonardo Tiefembrucker.’ (see also Lute RCM 203, Commentary). The front dates from the modification to the present state; opened worm channels show where it was reworked and the traces of a fixed bridge were partially removed. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.VI de la Condamine 1926, ill. p.46 Wells 1984, p.12
Lute, ?Padua, RCM 9: detail of spurious label
56
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Lute, ?Padua, RCM 9
57
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RCM 203 Lute (formerly ?Chitarrone) Vendelio (Wendelin) Venere, Padua, 1600 Inscriptions Printed label: 1600 {-.} [?]{T.} / IN PADOVA Vvendelio Venere [date and initials handwritten (see Commentary)] Engraved ivory plaque on pegbox: FROM / THE COLLECTIONS / SUCCESSIVELY / OF / CARL ENGEL. / & / A.J.HIPKINS. Brief description Originally a Paduan chitarrone or lute, converted in the 18th century as a theorbo and in the 19th century as a lute Dimensions : 1089 : 532 : 365 : 164 : 684 Description Later two-piece front, book-matched, of fine to medium grain. Shadow of earlier bridge position c.88.5mm from tail; existing bridge 129.2mm from tail. Soundhole has inserted rose cut from another, possibly the original, front; pattern of interlocking circles with chip-carved border; six small strengthening bars across rose. Bridge of maple drilled for six pairs of strings and eight single bass strings. Eight full-width transverse bars, three of which cross the rose; one hooked bar on the bass side and three short fan bars on the treble side in the bridge area. Front has line of ebony edging. Back of 31 yew ribs with heartwood/sapwood stripe used decoratively to give the impression of twice as many ribs; ribs slightly hollowed. Joints strengthened with lengthways paper strips c.5.5mm wide cut from a printed medical treatise; also four transverse parchment or vellum strips, 5–9mm wide, with traces of MS and rubrics, and a broader piece of same below inner liner at tail, probably applied later to pull ribs together by contraction. In addition there are later more random transverse strips of plain parchment or vellum and small additional paper patches. Inner liner at tail coniferous, maximum depth 30.5mm, maximum thickness c.5mm. Top-block in two pieces; layer nearest neck coniferous, inner layer of ?willow; this layer goes over the paper strengthening strips. Nail goes through both layers into neck. Remains of edge linings on inside of front are of ?willow. Original capping-strip of plain outline. Later pegbox and core of neck ?maple. Neck veneered in ebony with bone edging. Pegbox of figured maple, open-backed, with hook-shaped finial. Transparent red stain on pegbox, of ?dragonsblood; twenty rosewood pegs with ivory inserts. Width of fingerboard: at nut 83.6mm, at joint 108.5mm. Diameter of rose insert 109mm, of rose opening 91.1mm; centre of rose from tail: 344mm. Commentary The original neck and pegbox arrangements cannot be deduced but the instrument was probably set up as a theorbo with new front and neck in the 18th century. Next 58
to the rebate for the (missing) full-width nut there is a filled recess for a shorter nut for the six stopped strings; the open bass strings would have gone to a second pegbox. The present open-backed and angled pegbox with twenty pegs is 19th-century work, perhaps from the period when the lute was owned and played by Carl Engel; the restorer may have thought that overspun basses made a second pegbox redundant. The bridge and most of the barring also appear to date from this period, but the old bar positions were retained. A Venere chitarrone dated 1611 survives in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. The label with its date of 1600 and initials is of interest: it indicates the workshop of Vendelio Venere II (Wendelin Eberle, 1576–1643), great nephew of Vendelio Venere I (Wendelin Tieffenbrucker, son of Leonardo Tieffenbrucker). Archival records show that Venere (‘Venus’) was a nickname used by several members of the family. Venere II’s father was Cristoforo Heberle (Eberle, c.1546–before 1621); both of them may have used the cutoff Venere label (excluding the second line, ‘de Leonardo Tiefembrucker’) that is in RCM 203 and other lutes dating from after 1591. Giorgio Venere (1590–1624) possibly a younger brother of Venere II, is also documented as a lute-maker in Padua (see Kiràly 1994, pp.26–32; Grove 2001, v.25, p.465). The initials on the label of RCM 203 are not clear but do not appear to be W. E. (for Wendelin Eberle) as on some lutes with the cutoff label, nor W.T. The top of the first initial, perhaps S, J or G, is hidden under the end of a parchment strip; the second initial might have been T, with a blurred full stop. Both have been re-written or altered in darker ink, probably by a restorer. See also Lute RCM 9. Provenance Gift of John and Edith Hipkins, 1911. This lute (like the Kirkman harpsichord, RCM 180) was owned and played by Carl Engel, who founded the instrument collection in the South Kensington Museum (later to become the Victoria and Albert Museum), and then by Alfred James Hipkins (1826–1903), first honorary curator at the RCM. References Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Grove 1927, v.3 p.254 Hipkins 1888, pl.XV, pp.29–30 Hipkins 1921, pl.XV, pp.31–3 Hipkins 1945, pl.XV, pp.31–3 Grove 1948, v.3 p.254 Grove 1954, v.5 p.438 Wells 1984, p.12
Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: detail of initials on label
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Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: front
Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: detail of inside of back, showing linings and label
Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: underside of front
Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: back
Lute, Vendelio Venere, RCM 203: inside of back 59
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RCM 26 Chitarrone Magnus Tieffenbrucker (Magno Dieffopruchar), Venice, 1608 Inscriptions Printed label: 1608 / Magno dieffopruchar a Venetia [date handwritten] Brief description Venetian chitarrone with six pairs of stopped strings and eight open bass strings in upper pegbox Dimensions : 1958, without tail button 1950 : front 675, at back 706 : 398 : 187 : stopped strings 930, bass strings 1703 Description Front two-piece, bookmatched, of fine to medium grain, wider at edges; edged with single dark line rebated to half depth of front; inlaid mother-of-pearl heart-and-dart at tail. Three linked soundholes with angular, knot-pattern roses cut from wood of front; collars chip-carved; seven crossbars under upper rose, ten under lower roses. Blackstained bridge tapering in height and width from bass to treble, with conventional ears. Back of 51 ribs, possibly of walnut. Capping-strip of seven strips separated by bone/ ivory lines; simple outline with single scallop each end. Ebony fingerboard with single inlaid white line; points at end of original fingerboard survive at top of front, with inlaid line between. Ribs bordering front are of irregular width. Ebony-veneered back of neck inlaid with twelve compound lines of alternate white/black/white/black/ white pattern, formed of both bone and ivory, the wider centre line of ivory. Three of the same compound lines run up the back of the pegbox and spar but with the centre line of bone. Back of pegbox and spar edged with single line of bone; sides of pegbox and spar veneered with compound lines. Three metal eyelets for neck strap in back of pegbox. The upper pegbox curves forward having the front outlined with a single inlaid white line and a crescent moon of mother-of-pearl on the front face. Pegs of ebony with bone or ivory collars and buttons. Width of fingerboard: at body joint 99mm, at nut 74.3mm. Width of spar: at nut 66mm, at tip 25mm. Stringband width at bridge: 152mm. Soundhole diameter: lower 74.7mm, upper 58.9mm; centre point of lower soundhole from tail: 379mm. Bridge from tail: 110mm. Commentary The maker may have used a back he had constructed earlier, which had developed a twist; to produce a flat plane to receive the front, some wood had to be removed from the top end on the treble side and the lower end on the bass side. This would explain the irregular depth of the ribs next to the front. The instrument has been lengthened; parts of the veneer were removed from the main pegbox and spar and extra length was scarfed onto the core of the spar. A fulllength extra layer was added to the back surface to 60
strengthen the joint. Veneer from the back of the old spar was re-laid on this extra wood and extended with similar but not identical decoration; the white in the compound lines is of bone. At the base of the thickened spar, where it formed the heel of the main pegbox, a new piece of veneer with compound lines was necessary. The sides of the original pegbox and spar are veneered in a reddish wood, ?rosewood, the same as that of the surviving fingerboard points, but all the additions to length and thickness are veneered in ebony. The veneer on the front face of the spar likewise changes from ?rosewood to ebony near the point where the lengthening began. The changeover point to new veneer on the back of the spar is higher because it was possible to flatten and reuse the old veneer which originally went around the curve of the upper pegbox. The upper pegbox is probably a replacement from this time and the junction of it with the decorative lines on the side of the spar was awkwardly handled. Several alterations have been made to the nut of the upper pegbox. Before the lengthening, the instrument had basses approximately 1450mm long with a main pegbox with an open, or much thinner, back. The bridge is old but almost certainly a replacement; the workmanship and style do not match the instrument and there are signs of several re-gluings. Fingerboard, pegs and bridge probably date from the lengthening. Concerning Magnus Tieffenbrucker III, fl.1589–1629, and the Venetian Tieffenbruckers generally, see Ongaro 1991, pp.46–54. Chitarrones with similar labels survive in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and Museo Civico Bologna (1612); also, with identical roses, in the Musée de la Musique, Paris (see Dugot 2006, pp.62–3). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Technical drawing by Ian Harwood, 1974, revised 1977, © RCM Donaldson 1896, pl.XII Niederheitmann 1894, p.87 Lütgendorff 1922, p.516 Galpin 1928, p.880 Galpin 1968, p.80, pl.XXXIII Pohlmann 1971, p.376 Harwood 1975, p.17 & pl.V Lowe 1976, pp. 13 & 23 Remnant 1978, p.32 Montagu 1979, p.18 & ill. p.19 Grove 1980, v.4, p.288 & ill. Barber 1982, p.47 Rossi 1983, pp.64–5 & 106, pl.41 Grove 1984, v.1 p.359 & ill. Wells 1984, p.12 & ill. Van Edwards 1985, p.20 & ill. p.26 Rizzi 1986, p.26 & fn.28 p.29 Toffolo 1987, pp.94 & 220 Baines 1992, p.60 Grove 2001, v.5 p.701 & ill. Dugot 2006, p.63
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Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26; see also colour plates, p.6 61
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Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: detail of roses
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: front of body
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: lower end of body
62
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: detail of centre section of label
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Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: detail of upper pegbox
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: join of neck to spar, back
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: X-rays of lower neck and body
Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, RCM 26: detail of neck join to front, showing points of original fingerboard 63
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RCM 10 Lute (formerly Chitarrone) Domenico Sellas, Venice, mid 17th century Inscriptions On finial engraved on ivory: Domenico Sellas / alla Corona / 1635 / IN VENETIA [with a crown between 16 and 35; see Commentary] Label inside, handwritten: Domenico Sellas In / Venetia Two repair labels, printed: Sebastian Schelle, Lauten und / Geigenmacher in Nürnberg, / Hummels Erben zugericht, / An. 1735 [last two digits handwritten] Carl Christian Otto / Halle, 1834. [with handwritten addition:] Reparirt /Und {…} [ ?]decke [see Commentary]
plugged and the finial crudely repaired. Probably the initial conversion to a ‘guitar’ was done by Schelle and Otto repaired and modernised the conversion, supplying a new front (?decke on the label; the preceding word is illegible, possibly Weich, Weiss or Neie H) and new bridge. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.VI de la Condamine 1926, ill. p.46 Wells 1984, pp.12–13 Toffolo 1987, p.220
Brief description Originally a chitarrone, altered to guitar stringing Dimensions : 1021, without tail button 1016 : 567 (to original joint on front c.542) : 351 : 143 : 942 Description Later front, two-piece, matched, of fine to medium grain. Soundhole with bevelled edge; collar inlaid with lozenges separated by verticals of narrow banding. This banding, paired, also forms the herring-bone edging of front. Ebonised 19th-century guitar pin-bridge for six single strings. Back of 37 ribs, of snakewood, with ivory lines between, of semi-elliptical cross section, the two outermost ribs wider. Capping-strip of four strips of snakewood with four inlaid lines. Original lining of laid paper with transverse linen strips and later tape reinforcements. Later neck of semi-circular section. Curved pegbox with hook finial veneered in chequered marquetry made of the same materials as the back (back of neck also veneered in similar marquetry but laid obliquely; the squares are smaller and the woods different). Later ebonised raised fingerboard goes over front and reaches to soundhole; sixteen ivory frets. Thickness of front at soundhole: 3.7mm. Soundhole diameter: 74.5mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 371mm. Depth of original neck at joint: c.30mm; width at joint c.105mm. Width of current fingerboard at joint: 58.9mm, at nut 47.5mm Commentary The date 1635 appears to be a spurious addition to the inscription on the finial since Domenico Sellas, son of Matteo, was born c.1632 and died in 1686. So the instrument must be later unless there was another Domenico, as yet unknown. The pegbox has six single strings at present. It was originally the upper pegbox of a chitarrone and held eight pegs; their holes have been plugged and the upper part of the box has been filled in. At some time, four more pegs were added in the curved portion between the finial and the pegbox proper, with the strings attached on the outside; since they were placed in the short grain of the curve, the pressure of the pegs split the wood and detached the finial. The holes were 64
Lute, Domenico Sellas, RCM 10: detail of labels
Lute, Domenico Sellas, RCM 10: detail of front of head
Lute, Domenico Sellas, RCM 10: detail of inscription on finial
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Lute, Domenico Sellas, RCM 10 65
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RCM 25 Chitarrone Italian, mid 17th century Inscriptions None Brief description Mid seventeenth-century chitarrone, much-altered Dimensions : 1845 : at front 604, at back 616 : 381½ : 164 : stopped strings 655, basses c.1493 Description Twelve pegs in main pegbox and eight in upper; also an added single peghole for short additional treble string on treble side of body at neck joint, with its own nut glued to front. Two-piece front; three linked soundholes with roses cut from wood of front; chip-carved borders linked by a central star pattern; roses of simple curved geometric tracery with leaf shapes. Later guitar-style bridge, very wide and broad, with holes for sixteen hitchpins, glued to a counterpart plate on underside of front. The front has been backed with extra layers of wood and is also glued to an added central strut placed between neck and tailblocks. Back of 21 ribs of yew; semi-elliptical in transverse section; white/black/white lines in joints. Later additional layers thicken the ribs next to the front, and the front is widened by an edging band of multiple lines of purfling. Neck veneered in ebony. The original fingerboard is overlaid with a later thick rosewood fingerboard running onto the front.
Later pegboxes and spar of heavy unveneered blackstained hardwood. In addition the spar has had an extra stiffening layer added on the bass side, crudely inlaid with squares and diamonds of mother-of-pearl in black wood and black mastic (the mother-of-pearl is re-used: there is incised decoration on undersides). Width of neck: at joint 107mm, at nut 92mm. Soundhole diameters: lower pair 78.8mm, upper 60.3mm; centre of lower soundhole from tail: 332mm. Commentary The last state was wire-strung. There were two previous states as a gut-strung instrument, with a different neck and pegboxes in the first state. The illustrations in Hipkins 1888 and in Donaldson 1896 show all three roses intact as well as the inlay on the neck. Hipkins states in both publications that RCM 25 is Venetian, and dated 1608; since no label can be seen now, it seems possible that the instrument was confused with Donaldson’s other chitarrone, RCM 26, which is indeed Venetian and dated 1608. If so, it is interesting that Hipkins chose to illustrate a much-altered example in 1888 rather than RCM 26. However Donaldson may not have owned RCM 26 until later; neither instrument seems to have been exhibited in the 1885 Inventions Exhibition. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Hipkins 1888, pl.XXI, p.41 Donaldson 1896, pl.XII Hipkins 1921, pl.XXI, pp.49–50 Hipkins 1945, pl.XXI, pp.49–50
Chitarrone, Italian, RCM 25: detail of the surviving rose 66
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Chitarrone, RCM 25: back of body in present condition
Chitarrone, RCM 25: front, from Donaldson 1896, pl. XII 67
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RCM 200 Lute South Italian, 19th century Inscriptions French MS, indecipherable through the rose, on inside of back; probably a lining rather than a label (see Commentary) Brief description Nineteenth-century south Italian lute Dimensions : 745 : 405 : 336 : 139 : 609 Description Seven pairs of strings. Body of triangular outline, with broad and flattened tail resembling the body of longnecked Arabic lutes. Front of four pieces, two main pieces quarter-sawn, book-matched, with small wings of near slab-cut wood; edging of bone lines enclosing leaf inlays in black mastic; mother-of-pearl inlays at top end of front between the points of fingerboard veneer. Two soundholes, the upper one with geometric rose cut in soundboard wood with inlaid collar of circles and ovals of mother-of-pearl in black mastic; the lower soundhole with recessed rose of pierced leather and wood including two figures, one playing a wind instrument. Chamfered edge and collar of serpentine line and leaf shapes in mother-ofpearl inlaid in black mastic. Tie-bridge of bone and ebony with partially turned finials of acorn shape. Smoothly rounded back appears to be formed of diagonal laminations, strengthened inside with paper, and veneered outside in ebony. Back has marquetry and inlaid decoration of bone/ivory and mother-of-pearl, engraved with a mixture of semi-abstract floral designs, grotesque serpent heads, and grotesque figures. There are also
inserted lines of raised bone wedges of flattened semicircular form standing proud of the back by 4.5 to 7.5mm. Back of neck veneered with alternate ebony and bone in interlocking pattern. Fingerboard edged with Greek-key design in bone and ebony, enclosing an engraved bone panel showing a procession with a horsedrawn wagon approaching a city gate. Front edges of pegbox veneered with engraved bone strips; back of pegbox pierced with ornamental fret including three figures, one playing a lute. Neck-ribbon buttons at tip of pegbox and at tail. Five gut frets survive. Diameter of soundholes: 69, 42.7mm; centres from tail: 269, 395mm. Distance of front edge of bridge from tail: 53mm. Width of fingerboard: at joint 93.8mm, at nut 78.6mm. Commentary Heavily built. Possibly made in Sicily, judging from some of the decoration; it could be a narrow-necked Arabic lute rebuilt in the 19th century into a fanciful idea of a European lute. The pegbox fret is similar to the rose. The inscription in French on paper on the inside of the back is indecipherable through the rose except for a few words and is probably a lining. Similar ‘triangular lutes’ survive, including one with raised bone wedges in the back (formerly owned by Diana Poulton, then Ian Harwood, current whereabouts unknown), and a smaller lute in the Museo degli Strumenti Musicale, Castello Sforzesco, Milan (Gatti 1997, p.312). These derive from the revival of the mandolin in the 19th century, and may all come from the same south Italian workshop, incorporating parts of earlier instruments. Provenance Probably one of ‘5 old Italian inlaid instruments of the lute family’ given by Jacques Blumenthal (1829–1908), pianist and composer, in 1906. References None located
Lute, South Italian, RCM 200: detail of fingerboard 68
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Lute, South Italian, RCM 200: front
Lute, South Italian, RCM 200
Lute, South Italian, RCM 200: back
69
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RCM 107 Mandolino Giovanni Smorsone, Rome, 1724 Inscriptions Handwritten label: Giovanni Smorsone / In Roma 1724 Brief description Mandolino with six double courses of gut strings Dimensions : 573½ : at front 241 : 144 : 83 : 341 Description Front of fine to medium grain; bone and ebony edging; soundhole with rose of knot pattern cut from wood of front; chip-carved border of diamond shapes; five small black-stained bars run under the rose. Original bridge of sycamore stained black, lute-form with top of engraved ?bone; finials missing. Back of thirteen hollowed ribs of ?kingwood with bone lines between ribs 2.4mm wide; edge ribs wider; remainder of back has semicircular transverse section; strengthened inside with transverse strips of parchment or vellum. Deep plain capping-strip with single bone line. The twelve lines on back continue up back of neck to pegbox; four, slightly narrower lines run up back of pegbox; further lines on sides of pegbox. Fingerboard veneered with same wood as back, and a plaque of engraved bone: cartouche containing a Phoenix and the rays of the sun, surmounted by scrolling acanthus foliage. ?Walnut core to neck and pegbox; front and back faces of pegbox veneered. Simple hook finial with ivory/ebony diagonally chequered on front face. Twelve boxwood pegs; one a replacement. Ivory nut; traces of
original fret positions and tied frets. Diameter of rose opening: 52.2mm, centre from tail: 160mm. Width of fingerboard at nut: 53.3mm, at joint 65.8mm. Bridge from tail: 56mm. Commentary The neck is held to the body by a large nail; this split the lime neck-block, probably when the instrument was made. A number of fine mandolini by Smorsone survive. The mandolino was plucked with the fingers until the later 18th century and was popular as a solo instrument in sonatas, concertos, operas and oratorios. It eventually gave place in the 19th century to the Neapolitan mandolin but a redesign in the mid-century as the mandolino Lombardo or Milanese led to a revival. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX Baines 1966, p.34 & ill. Galpin 1968, p.81 Wells 1984, p.13 Morey 1993, pp.23–30 & ills. p.24
Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107: lower end
Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107: detail of rose 70
Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107: detail of label
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Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107
Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107: underside of front
Mandolino, Giovanni Smorsone, RCM 107: with front removed, showing inside of back 71
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RCM 109 Mandolino ?Francesco Presbler, Milan, 1733 Inscriptions Handwritten label on inside of back: Francesco Presbler. / Fecit i Milano / Anno 1733 Brief description Mandolino with the back made from a gourd Dimensions : 480 : c.145 (measured to hollow or crack in gourd where joint to wood of neck begins) : 221 : 86 : 284 Description Six double courses. Front one-piece, of wide grain; edged with a black inlaid line and bone strip which continues up edges of fingerboard. Inlaid disc ornament at tail. Inserted rose with foliate piercing based on a cross pattern; collar of mother-of-pearl inlays in black mastic. Lute-style tiebridge with slips of bone inlaid on edges. Back formed from a hollowed gourd, giving a wide and shallow cavity with concavity in the outline at tail; lined with pages from an unidentified printed poem in eight-line stanzas. Neck and pegbox ebonised, with nut of bone. Front edges of pegbox veneered with ivory and bone. Bone face to hook finial which had an inserted oval plaque, now missing.
Twelve transverse pegs, the heads stained black. Width of fingerboard: at nut 42.8mm, at joint 52mm. Soundhole diameter: 47.5mm; centre from tail: 87mm. Bridge from tail: 42mm (measured from depression in tail). Commentary This mandolino is highly unusual in having its back made from a half-gourd, though gourds are frequently found on instruments from non-European traditions. Whether it is really by Francesco Presbler is uncertain; the workmanship does not have the quality of that seen on RCM 110 and other instruments by the Presblers. One of the stanzas on the paper lining on the back can be read though there are losses at line ends: XXVI Viva, o Albino, in te dunque il… Onde a ragion t’unisti al sangu… Morì Rosàna, ed il suo folle am… Giust’ è, che copra un sempite… Mori, ma rinunzio prima all’o… Di Figlia, e Sposa con eccetto… Chi alla Patria rinunzia, ed al… Anche del sangue ogni diritto… Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX Baines 1966, p.34 & ill. Wells 1984, p.13
Mandolino, Francesco Presbler, RCM 109: detail of label viewed through rose
Mandolino, Francesco Presbler, RCM 109: detail of bridge
Mandolino, Francesco Presbler, RCM 109 72
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RCM 110 Mandolino Francesco and Giuseppe Presbler, Milan, 1778 Inscriptions Printed label: Francesco Presbler, / e Giuseppe Figlio / In Milano nella Contrada / della Dogana al Segno / Del Sole / 1778 [last digit handwritten] Brief description Mandolino with six double courses of gut strings Dimensions : 539 : at front 237 : 159 : 87 : 304½ Description Front two-piece, very fine-grained. Soundhole with inserted rose formed of two layers of wood and an under layer of parchment or vellum. Three black-stained reinforcement bars cross the rose; pattern of ‘flamboyant’ gothic with floral elements; border of inlaid ebony and mother-of-pearl. Edge of front has single ivory line. Back of fifteen ribs, possibly pernambuco, separated by ivory lines. Ribs next to front wider (36mm at widest point), others 13mm at widest. Back of semicircular transverse section above the wide edge
ribs. Joints strengthened with lengthways parchment strips. End-clasp plain with one line of purfling. Neck and pegbox all veneered on unidentified core. Back of neck and pegbox veneered in tortoiseshell. Six bone or ivory frets on front; eight double gut frets on neck. Pegbox open-backed with sides of mother-of-pearl and lines of ivory; hook finial with front face of mother-of-pearl. Ebony pegs with ivory collars and buttons; three not original. Fingerboard decorated with panels of mother-of-pearl outlined with ivory and ebony. Inlays at neck/body joint. Lute-bridge with simple foliate ends, of ?maple, with mother-of-pearl strip on top with edging of ebony. First and last pairs of strings attached to their pegs outside pegbox. Fingerboard width: at nut 47mm, at joint 54mm. Nut to neck joint: 121mm. Diameter of rose insert: 62.7mm; centre of rose from tail: 149.8mm. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX Grove 1907, v.3 p.39 Baines 1966, p.34 & ill. Galpin 1968, p.81 Grove 1980, ill. v.11 p.606 Grove 1984, ill. v.2 p.605 Morey 1993, pp.29–36 & ill. p.31
Mandolino, Francesco and Giuseppe Presbler, RCM 110: detail of rose
Mandolino, Francesco and Giuseppe Presbler, RCM 110 73
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RCM 17 Mandolino, Antonio Preda, Madrid, 1778
Fingerboard widths at nut: 49½mm, at joint 56½mm. Bridge front edge from tail: 58½mm. Rose diameter 54mm; centre of rose from tail 165½mm.
Inscriptions Handwritten label: 1778 Marzo / Io Antonio Preda feci in Madrid / per Sa.Ea. Francesco Pesaro / Ambasciator Veneto.
Commentary Similar mandolinos made in Madrid (1779), Vicenza (1779) and Venice (1783) by Antonio Preda suggest that he worked only briefly in Madrid; possibly he went there at Pesaro’s request.
Brief description One of a matched pair of mandolinos made by an Italian maker in Madrid (see RCM 18) Dimensions : 542 : at front 265 : 182 : 102 : 317 Description Six double courses of gut strings. Two-piece front of medium to wide grain, with wide grain at sides; edged with purfling. Soundhole with rose, cut from wood of front, in the form of an eight-pointed star enclosing a carved flower; the eight rays of the star joined with arches; bar across centre of rose and thickening pieces glued to the underside to strengthen short-grained sections. Around rose a simple border of chip-carved scallops. Lute-style bridge, of ?limewood, with top of ebony and ivory lines; simple carved hooked ends. Back of thirteen two-part ivory/ebony ribs with a dart-shaped joint at the widest point of the back; ribs separated with red and white purfling lines. Capping-strip of ?mahogany with a composite ebony/ivory pediment-shape at the centre. The two ribs next to the front are wider; above them the transverse section of the back is semicircular. Interior strengthened with transverse parchment strips. Neck and pegbox of composite construction, the back decorated with marquetry of ivory lines and lozenges. Double gut frets. Nut (of ?ivory) scalloped between string pairs. The fingerboard slightly convex and edged with ivory and lines of ebony, framing a central plain panel. Pegbox is composite; a continuation of the neck core forms the back of the pegbox, while the sides and finial are separate pieces. Flat face of hook-shaped finial of pegbox has a plaque of engraved ivory enclosed in frame of kingwood and ivory lines; scene shows back view of male nude with putto in a landscape. Black-stained pegs; the first four pegs for the highest and lowest pairs have the strings attached outside the pegbox. Five fixed frets glued to the front are later; possibly replacements of earlier ones.
Mandolino, Antonio Preda, RCM 17: detail of engraved ivory plaque on finial 74
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894; made, with RCM 18, as a matched pair of instruments for Francesco Pesaro, Venetian ambassador in Madrid. He was later a member of the Venetian Senate (not Doge, as stated in Donaldson 1896). References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.X Galpin 1928, p.880 Wells 1984, p.13 Morey 1993, pp.36–8 & ill. p.36
RCM 18 Mandolino Antonio Preda, Madrid 1778 Inscriptions As RCM 17 Brief description One of a matched pair of mandolinos (see RCM 17) Dimensions and Description As RCM 17, except that the ivory engraved plaque on the finial of this instrument shows a sleeping female nude with drapery beyond and a putto holding his fingers to his lips. String diameters (two wound and three gut, top string missing): 0.84, 0.71, 0.80, 0.71, 0.49mm, [missing]. Commentary The ends of the bridge have been trimmed back symmetrically, probably after some damage. The tied frets and some of the strings are old and possibly from the 18th century. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894; made, with RCM 17, for Francesco Pesaro, Venetian ambassador in Madrid. References See RCM17 above
Mandolino, Antonio Preda, RCM 18: detail of finial
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Pair of mandolinos, Antonio Preda, RCM 18 [front], RCM 17 [back]
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RCM 165 Mandoline David, Paris, 1786 Inscriptions Hand-written label: DAVID / Facibat anno / 1786. / A. Paris Brief description French mandoline with six single strings of gut Dimensions : 550 : at front 284½ : 181 : tail 55.6, at deepest point 65, at neck 52 : 306½ Description Front of fine to medium grain. Ebony edging and single purfling around edges of front and soundhole. Shield painted between bridge and soundhole; blue ground with a gold edge and three Bourbon lilies. Portrait, within gilt cartouche, of Louis XVI wearing red coat with a large Maltese cross-like order in ?silver, and what appears to be the Order of the Golden Fleece. Golden-coloured varnish. Tie-bridge of ?plane with ebony saddle. Ribs and back of figured maple; ribs perpendicular to front except where they approach the neck joint, when they slope in towards the back. Back flat transversely but arched lengthways. Neck and peghead ebonised; 21 bone or ivory frets. Six posterior pegs with heads of modern violin form. Ebony tailpin for neck-ribbon. Nut width: 42.3mm; fingerboard width at joint: 50.7mm. Provenance Gift of the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, 1897 References Baines 1966, p.35 & ill.
Mandoline, David, RCM 165
Mandoline, David, RCM 165: detail of label
Mandoline, David, RCM 165: detail of portrait of Louis XVI 76
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RCM 19 Brescian Mandolin Italian, second half of 19th century, labelled Joseph Gallina
References Donaldson 1896, pl.X Baines 1966, p.35 & ill.
Inscriptions Spurious printed label on top-block: Joseph Gallina / Brixiae MDCC{- - -} [remaining three digits handwritten, erased] Brief description Nineteenth-century Brescian mandolin with four single strings of gut Dimensions : 494 : 241 : 198 : 92 : 337
Brescian mandolin, Italian, RCM 19: detail of pegbox
Description Front of one piece of wide-grained wood. Soundhole with bevelled edge, decorated with inlaid darts of shell between ebony lines, surrounded by a line of small leaf-shaped piercings and inlaid faceted glass beads. No rose; soundhole crossed by ebonised bar with ornamental notches. There are three other bars, one above and two below soundhole. Inlaid wood and mother-of-pearl floral decoration each side of fingerboard at neck-joint. Motherof-pearl inlay on black-stained bridge with elaborate floral moustaches. Guard of ?ebony at tail end. Edge of front decorated with alternate triangular darts of ebony and mother-of-pearl. Back of almost semi-circular transverse section. The back is not of the usual coopered ribs but assembled from triangles and diapers of ebony, mother-of-pearl and a variety of other woods, plain and stained, on a black cloth backing, giving a smoothly rounded surface. There is a central star-shaped ornament on the back. One-piece neck and pegbox of ebony. Four foliateheaded pegs stained black; two seem original, two replacements. Finial is a winged female head and torso with tiara and girdle of small inlaid ?pearls, facing away from the instrument and resembling a ship’s figurehead. Scrolling and carved acanthus ornament on sides and back of pegbox. Fingerboard has edging and nut of mother-of-pearl; nut is scalloped between string notches. Fingerboard and back of neck inlaid with engraved mother-of-pearl, and further ?glass inserts at neck joint; eighteen ?silver-alloy frets; neck joint at the eleventh fret. Fingerboard length: 215mm. Commentary Unusual in construction and decoration, and with a spurious 18th-century Brescian label, this appears to be a later example of the Brescian or Cremonese mandolin with four single gut strings and a tie-bridge; it dates from the 19th-century revival, when the mandolin became increasingly popular in Italy and highly ornamented instruments were produced. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894
Brescian mandolin, Italian, RCM 19 77
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RCM 28 Neapolitan Mandolin Domenico Vinaccia, Naples, 1780 Inscriptions Handwritten label: Domino Vinac̆ia Fecit / Neapoli 1780 Brief description Neapolitan mandolin with four double courses of wire Dimensions : 574 : at front 283 : 175 : 115 : 338½ Description Front of fine to wide grain, stained brown, with bend. Soundhole with bevelled edge surrounded by tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl collar. Inlaid tortoiseshell plectrumguard bordered with mother-of-pearl; similar inlaid tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl at tail. Edging and purfling of mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell and ivory. Back of 21 ribs of stained figured maple, with ivory lines between; the two outer ribs are much higher and the transverse section beyond them is a flattened semi-circle. Interior lined all over with paper reinforcement. The ribs are hollowed to give a fluted appearance to the back. Deep capping-strip of elaborate profile. Bone saddle plus four ivory button hitchpins at tail. Loose ebony bridge placed on fold. Silver-alloy frets on fingerboard; four frets on front. Back of neck veneered in tortoiseshell with eleven purfling lines, five of which continue up the back of the pegbox. Eight posterior pegs, slotted for strings, with bone or ivory collars and buttons. Fingerboard richly decorated with tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl marquetry and edging. Hole for ribbon at top of pegbox. Tail to fold: c.92mm; tail to rose centre: 199.5mm. Fingerboard width: at nut 27mm, at joint 38.9mm. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Hipkins 1888, pl.XXIII, pp.45–6 Donaldson 1896, pl.XIII Hipkins 1921, pl.XXIII, pp.53–4 Hipkins 1945, pl.XXIII, pp.53–4
Neapolitan Mandolin, Domenico Vinaccia, RCM 28
78
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RCM 255 Neapolitan Mandolin ?Milan, late 19th century
RCM 535 Neapolitan Mandolin ?Italian, c.1900
Inscriptions None
Inscriptions None
Brief description Late 19th-century Neapolitan mandolin
Brief description Neapolitan mandolin dating from c.1900
Dimensions : 570, without hitchbuttons : 276 : 173 : 127 : 340 (twice distance to octave fret 324)
Dimensions : 562½ : front 275, back 284 : 183 : 145 : 328 (twice distance to octave fret 334)
Description Four double courses of steel, two plain, two covered. Twopiece front of wide to fine grain with single purfling and edging; pale gold varnish. Inlaid plectrum-guard of the same wood as the back. Soundhole has bevelled edge and collar of inlaid leaves and flowers of incised mother-ofpearl, set in black mastic, enclosed between lines of purfling. Two decorative inlays between tail and bridge. Plain loose bridge of simple wedge section. Back of eleven ribs of alternate figured maple and ?rosewood, lined with blue paper. Four ivory hitchbuttons in capping-strip. Raised fingerboard ending at soundhole. Ebonised neck and pegbox; thirteen ivory studs around edges of pegbox. Posterior pegs of modern violin style. Fingerboard width: at neck 32.7mm, at joint 37.4mm. Soundhole diameter: 55.6mm; centre from tail: 188.8mm. Provenance Gift of John and Edith Hipkins, 1911; formerly owned by their father, A J Hipkins.
Description Four double courses. Two-piece matched front with bend. Oval soundhole and inlaid plectrum-guard. Dark wood edge-banding and multiple lines of purfling; similar around soundhole. Back of seventeen ribs of plain maple with black lines between. Interior lined with paper. Four shared ebony hitchpins in maple and walnut cappingstrip. Pale gold varnish. Maple one-piece neck and pegbox; front face of pegbox veneered in walnut; seventeen frets. Boxwood posterior pegs, of two patterns, with inserted metal pins of smaller diameter to assist finetuning. Fingerboard width: at joint 39mm, at nut 23.5mm. Soundhole: 44.6 × 68.5mm; centre from tail: 172mm. Bend from tail: 86mm. Provenance Gift of Timothy Miller, 2002 References None located
References None located
Neapolitan mandolin, ?Milan, RCM 255: front, back
Neapolitan mandolin, ?Italian, RCM 535 79
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RCM 374 Neapolitan Mandolin Lyon and Healy, Chicago, c.1900
RCM 316 Neapolitan Mandolin ?Italian, early 20th century
Inscriptions Two printed labels inside: GEORGE / WASHBURN / NEW MODEL FROM / Lyon & Healey / MUSIC DEALERS & MANFTRS / WABASH AVENUE & ADAMS S t / CHICAGO Printed on top block: 57902 Stamped inside: PAT MCH 10.91
Inscriptions None
Brief description Neapolitan mandolin made in Chicago, c.1900 Dimensions : 612 : 315 (front) : 207 : 162 : 328 Description Two-piece matched front, fine to wide grain at edges. Front and oval soundhole edged with pale wood lines and variegated purfling. Inlaid black plectrum-guard of synthetic material. Brass-plated tailpiece, with hinged cover and string-guard fastened by screw. Very deep back of nine ribs of alternate maple and ?walnut, the ribs next to the front much wider. Lined with coarse calico-type fabric. Capping-strip of rosewood. One-piece mahogany neck and peghead, faced with rosewood. Synthetic heads on machines. Soundhole: 65 × 40mm. Fingerboard width: at nut 28.5mm, at joint 38mm. Commentary From the 1890s or first decade of 20th century. The firm of Lyon & Healy was founded in Chicago in 1864; Lyon’s first names were George Washburn. Provenance Gift of Miss Band, 1978
Brief description Early 20th-century Neapolitan mandolin Dimensions : 589 : at front 303 : 196 : 151 : 333 (twice distance to octave fret 336) Description Four-piece front of wide to medium grain, wide at edges. Elliptical soundhole with collar of mother-of-pearl inlays in black mastic between double line of purfling. Edged with chequered band of mother-of-pearl and ebony, an inner line of mother-of-pearl in mastic, in rope pattern, and double purfling. Tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl marquetry plectrum-guard. Loose bridge with long dart finials and bone insert. Strings hitched to plated metal ‘saddle’ at tail with raised lugs to form ‘hitchpins’. Back of 21 ribs of rosewood with pale wood lines between. Capping strip edged with ?satinwood. Neck of, or veneered in, rosewood. Rosewood fingerboard with seventeen metal frets; mother-of-pearl fret markers at frets five, seven, ten and twelve. Machine-tuners of the same plated metal as hitchplate with bone heads. Bend in front: from tail: 110mm. Soundhole: 69mm broad, 43.7mm high; centre of soundhole from tail: 204mm. Fingerboard width: 27.6mm at nut, 36.3mm at joint. Provenance Gift of Miss Ursula Gale, 1965 References None located
References None located
Neapolitan mandolin Lyon and Healy, RCM 374 80
Neapolitan mandolin ?Italian, RCM 316
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RCM 14 Mandolone (Bass Mandolin) Italian, 2nd half of 18th century
existing areas of wear. Some of the mother-of-pearl inlays similar to the corner inlays of this plate are also later; much of the decoration is added.
Inscriptions Scratched at top of back of pegbox: Detti
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894
Brief description Eighteenth-century bass mandolin which has been modified
References Donaldson 1896, pl.VIII
Dimensions : 937½, without tail-button 929½ : to end of front 475 : 384 : 207 : nut to fold in front 560 (twice distance from octave fret to nut 552; the two longer bass strings at present 684, previously c.740) Description Six double courses and two bass double courses off fingerboard on separate nut. Lute-form body with angled front, loose bridge and strings attached at tail. Front thick, of fine to medium grain (5.5mm thick at soundhole); three bars on front, two below rose, one above. Soundhole has bevelled edge with surrounding collar of bone and wood discs enclosing band of black mastic, inlaid with stylised leaf shapes of mother-of-pearl. Other inlays in front: mother-of-pearl discs, heart-shapes, and plaque engraved with descending dove motif at joint of front and neck. Back of fifteen ribs, the two edge ribs deeper; maple capping-strip of simple outline; all ribs of figured maple with lines of dark wood between; paper reinforcement of joints inside. Brass eye and ring on bass side of peghead to attach neck-strap. Neck with coniferous core, the back veneered in mahogany and the front veneered in a darker wood with bone at centre and edges; also further stylised floral inlays. Nut scalloped between courses. Metal frets, seven on neck and five on front. Front of peghead veneered as fingerboard with bone and wood, without inlays. Finger-board convex for whole length. Pegs at present in two lines; between fourth and fifth pegs, on bass side, an extra raised nut, plugged into a hole similar to a peghole. Core of peghead ?maple, the back veneered in mahogany. Later stained maple pegs. Hitchpins in tail: five ivory hitchpins and three loose harp-type hitchpins. Distance of fold in front from tail: 120mm; distance of rose centre from tail: 312½mm. Rose diameter: 86.9mm. Fingerboard width: at nut: 93.4mm, at joint 111.5mm. Width of main nut: 60mm; width of bass nut: 35mm. Height of bass nut: 30.5mm (?raised 5mm when moved). Commentary Considerably modified. The two lowest pairs of strings were differently arranged originally: their nut was nearer the top of the peghead between the second and third pegs from top, and there were two pegs at the top of the peghead centred between the existing rows. These took the higher of the two bass strings and the first and second pegs bass side took the lower bass string. The inlaid tortoiseshell plectrum-guard is also later; it is cut into
Mandolone, Italian, RCM 14
81
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RCM 135 Svenskluta (Swedish Theorbo) Lorents Mollenberg, Stockholm, 1817 Inscriptions Printed label: N o 82 [or possibly 89] / LORENTS MOLLENBERG / Stockholm / 1817 [82 and 7 handwritten] Brief description Svenskluta (Swedish theorbo) made in Stockholm in 1817 Dimensions : 1049 : at front 496, at back (to neck joint at heel) 442 : 366 : at tail 92, at joint 73, at deepest point 98 : 154 : stopped strings 578, basses 758 Description Eight strings on fingerboard and seven diapasons. Asymmetrical pear-shaped outline with back of hybrid lute/cittern form. Front, two-piece, of fine to wide grain with ebony edging; soundhole with ebonised cross-bar of triangular section; collar of chequered inlay of ebony and boxwood, enclosed in lines of box. Ebonised pin-bridge with bone saddle, and ebony hitchpins with bone inlays. Maple ribs, of slight curl, sloping steeply in towards back at shoulders. Vaulted back of seven ribs of maple with central rib forming large button on heel of neck. Plain
maple neck with steeply-angled joint to body (c.50°). Main pegbox has eight pegs with shield-shaped boxwood heads; off-set ‘theorbo’ pegbox, has hook finial with flat face and bevelled edges and holds seven pegs; ebony fingerboard flush with front; slightly convex at nut end; nine metal frets, the ninth at joint with front. Length of fingerboard to ninth fret: 234mm. Three capo tasto holes in fingerboard behind first three frets; capo tasto mechanism for bass strings operated by thumb lever; it raises a leathered cross-piece which pushes the strings against a movable nut (attached to the underside of a platform fixed above the bass strings). There are two positions for the missing nut to raise pitch a tone or a tone and a half higher. The platform has two brass-bushed holes for a screw to fix the nut; lifter is moved by coupled brass levers with return spring; threaded hole in guiding collar of lifter for a screw to lock it in raised position. Soundhole diameter: 84mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 336mm. Commentary Svensklutas were made by Stockholm luthiers from c.1780–c.1850. The capo tasto mechanism on RCM 135 may be an addition. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVIII Baines 1966, p.30 & ill.
Svenskluta, Lorents Mollenberg, RCM 135 82
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RCM 151 Torban (Theorbo) Ukrainian, 19th century
References Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Baines 1966, p.30 & ill.
Inscriptions Fragment of original label, not legible Brief description Torban (Ukrainian theorbo) with additional diatonic treble strings plucked by the right little finger, as well as basses Dimensions : 1203 : 530 (to furthest point at sloping neck joint) : 358 : 163 : trebles from shortest: 235, 250, 265, 279, 295, 308, 322, 334, 346, 357, 368, 374; stopped strings 621; basses 956 Description Four double courses and four single strings on fingerboard, with twelve unstopped treble strings and four single bass courses to upper offset pegbox. Front twopiece, matched, of wide to fine grain; brown varnish; one bar above soundhole, three below; saw-kerfed liners; reinforcing patch on inside of front on treble-side. Lutestyle bridge, offset, inlaid with notched diamond-shaped mother-of-pearl inlays. Black edging and collar of multiple purfling around soundhole and front; heart-shaped mother-of-pearl inlay at top end of front. Back of eleven ribs of plain maple with black lines between; joints papered on inside. Neck of plain maple with inlaid strips of darker, reddish, wood; ebonised pegboxes; turned-back hook finial to offset peg-box; bone nut on main pegbox and ebonised wood nut on offset pegbox, with turned-back crescent-shaped ‘horn’ on bass side. Disc of mother-of-pearl, with saw-tooth edge, inlaid at lower end of back of main pegbox. Tortoiseshellveneered fingerboard, slightly convex at nut, edged with multiple lines; eight-pointed mother-of-pearl star in centre of fingerboard. A wooden strengthening strut runs between lower and upper block inside. Treble upper-side of body has an L-sectioned pegboard fitted to it, glued, screwed and pegged through to liner. At present twelve posterior pegs: eleven of same pattern as pegbox pegs but of inferior workmanship. Nine plugged holes from earlier stage; these are more widely spaced so that the strings would have fanned out more from the bridge (more like those on a bandura); no nuts for these strings, which come straight off the pegs. Tailpin missing. Soundhole diameter: 78.5mm; soundhole centre from tail: 311mm. Bridge from tail: 155mm. Fingerboard widths: 79mm to 88mm. Commentary Popular with the Ukrainian artistocracy and Cossack officers, the torban had a softer tone than the bandura (see Vertkov 1975, p.205). RCM 151 may originally have been without the unstopped treble strings and these may have been added in two stages. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894
Torban, Ukrainian, RCM 151 83
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RCM 286 Bandura Ukrainian, 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Bandura (kobza-bandura), Ukrainian hybrid lute/psaltery with 44 strings Dimensions : 996 : 629 (maximium length of front) WIDTH: 488 : 84 : 77 : strings on neck: 704, 705, 705, 701, 699, 695, 692, 692; strings on front: 493, 486, 447, 439, 430, 423, 413, 401, 398, 393, 388, 384, 378, 374, 364, 361, 354, 350, 344, 332, 325, 319, 311, 305, 298, 287, 276, 267, 257, 249, 237, 215, 189, 162, 123, 87
The bandura, sometimes called kobza-bandura because of its dual origin, was popular for the accompaniment of epic songs and in bandura ensembles; only open strings were used, the right hand plucking the treble strings (pristrunki), and the left hand the bass strings. The instrument was revived in the second half of the 19th century (see Haydamaka 1970). Provenance Gift of the author J B Priestley (1894–1984) in 1946; in his accompanying letter he writes that he was presented with the instrument in Kiev. References Baines 1966, p.30 & ill. Grove 1980, v.2 p.110 & ill. Grove 2001, v.2 p.656 & ill.
Description Eight bass strings on a short neck and 36 strings laid fanwise across the front. Compass ?E1 to c3, diatonic, with ten additional strings to give chromatic notes from f ♯ to d♯ 2. Strings are steel, seventeen of them wound. Asymmetrical spoon-like form and outline, with a shallow and flattened back. Thick four-piece front with soundhole, the simple rose cut from the wood of the front and surrounded by a raised turned collar; chequered edging to front, also purfling. A slanting combined bridge and tailpiece of plated steel bears on the front, and is fastened to the tail by four steel straps screwed to the back. The continuous foot of the tailpiece/bridge has cloth between it and the front. Hollowed-out back, neck and peghead in one piece formed from two planks of a pale hardwood, jointed lengthways with cloth reinforcement along joint inside. A semi-opaque red varnish over whole instrument. Peghead has violin-style scroll. Eight wound bass strings attached to frontal iron wrestpins at peghead, the others to pins set in a protruding pinblock around the treble side; pinblock fastened to rim of back underneath front. Bass strings share a curved nut; other strings have individual ?ivory nut pillars, diameter c.5mm, with the top end wedge-shaped, and notched for string. The strings are arranged in two intersecting planes: diatonic strings are attached to the upper surface of the tailpiece and slope downwards to nuts c.9mm high; chromatic strings leave the underside of tailpiece and rise to nuts c.13mm high. Commentary There are several traces of modifications. The peghead has holes for eight more pins, now plugged, and there are extra notches in the nut, probably indicating pairs of thinner strings originally. There are three plugged wrestpin holes between notes b/c1, e1/f 1 and b1/c2, and an unused nut above the highest note. The present tailpiece/bridge is probably not as old as the rest of the instrument. 84
Bandura, Ukrainian, RCM 286
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RCM 162 Balalaika Russian, 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Nineteenth-century balalaika with three gut strings Dimensions : 762 : 287 (length of front) : 290 : 140 : 549 Description Front, one-piece, medium-grained; dark edging and wide double purfling; pale gold-coloured varnish. Soundhole with collar of purfling enclosing mother-of-pearl inlays; a bar above and below soundhole. Loose bridge of ebony. Back of six ribs; flat end-board of figured maple; no reinforcements of joints. Ebonised maple neck and peghead with trefoil finial, joined to neck with simple angled lap-joint; rosewood veneer on flush fingerboard; nut of ebony. Posterior pegs with violin-style heads and mother-of-pearl inlays in both ends. Single rosewood hitch-pin at tail. Soundhole diameter: 45.9mm; centre from tail 167mm. Bridge from tail: 68mm. Fingerboard widths: 41.5–32.8mm. Commentary The tuning of the balalaika varies, a popular one being e1, e1, a1: Hipkins noted that this instrument was sent him from Moscow, tuned f 1, a1, e♭2, and that another balalaika sent to him at the same time from St Petersburg was tuned a1, c2, e♭2 (Hipkins 1888, p.48). Provenance Gift of John and Edith Hipkins, 1911; formerly owned by their father, A J Hipkins; sent to him from Moscow. References Grove 1927, v.3 pl.XXIII Hipkins 1888, pl.XXIV, p.48 Hipkins 1921, pl.XXIV, p.57 Hipkins 1945, pl.XXIV, p.57 Grove 1948, v.2 pl.XXIII Grove 1954, v.1 p.368; v.8 pl.70
Balalaika, Russian, RCM 162
85
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RCM 314 Balalaika Russian, 19th century
pierced with four small holes, in the shape of the gableend of a house with finial and eaves. Combined metal tailpiece and saddle, plated, screwed to tail. Five-rib curved back; ribs two and four are curved and also have a lengthways twist. Thin black lines between ribs. Neck tilted back from plane of front; neck and peghead ebonised. Neck/peghead joint a simple scarfjoint. Three machine-tuners with bone heads, at present strung with gut for the two e1 strings, and steel for a1. Sixteen frets on neck with mother-of-pearl fret markers at fifth, seventh and twelfth frets.
Inscriptions None Brief description Nineteenth-century balalaika Dimensions : 642 : 257 : 391 : 92 : 442
Commentary A subtly-shaped instrument with all the simple straight lines of the balalaika outline and back modified to curves.
Description Matched two-piece front, gently curved in both directions, of fine to medium grain with herringbone edging. Inlaid plectrum-guard at top of front, and in the centre an inlay,
Provenance Gift of Lady Leslie, 1966 References None located
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C E G
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RCM 48 Cittern Girolamo Campi, ?Brescia (or ?Pescina), c.1580 Inscriptions Stamped at top of back: GIRONIMO CANPI with three wheatears Handwritten paper label on inside of back: Extremely Curious Mandora / lately the Property of / Il Grand Maestro Rossini, / having formerly belonged to / Titian who used it as / a model in some of his / paintings. supposed period about / 1400 Brief description Renaissance cittern (cetra) with six double courses Dimensions : 727, without string-holder 718 : 308 (tail to top of front) : 248½ : maximum 47, minimum 31 (measured including front, which is 2.2 thick) : c.428 Description Front of medium to wide grain ?spruce; double purfling, widely separated, with inner line entwining in geometrical knot at tail end. Soundhole preserves the hardwood rim and paper fragments of an inserted rose; two lines of purfling around soundhole. Diameter of soundhole opening: 69mm; centre of rose from nut: 352.5mm. Gluing marks of a bridge c.10 × c.83mm. One large soundbar across the front, between soundhole and bridge, housed into sides (end of bar visible on exterior). Holes for twelve frontal pegs and tracks of six double courses on edge of peghead behind brass nut. Back, ribs, neck and peghead cut and hollowed from one piece of ?maple. Neck has a deep and narrow spine on the treble side (depth: 22 to 17.5mm; height: at nut 17mm, at mid-point 17.5mm, at body end 20mm). This bears the fullwidth fingerboard (width: minimum 44mm, maximum 47mm; thickness: 10mm) applied over soundboard, neck and part of peghead. Lower end of fingerboard has ogival profile and remnants of foliate painted decoration. There are seventeen frets, eight of which are not full width; fingerboard concave between frets. The frets are of brass strip, c.1mm thick, inserted from the treble side into stopped dovetail slots and locked in place by strips of dark wood 1.7mm wide. The strings were located in grooves in the wood of the pegbox before passing over an ungrooved brass nut of the same dimensions as the frets. Fret distances from nut: 1 25.5
7 158.5
13 236.5
2 45.4
8 172
14 247
3 69.5
9 189
15 256.5
4 106.8
10 202
16 268
5 126.1
11 214
17 284
6 141.2
12 227.5
The looped ends of the wire strings were originally hooked onto an integral comb-like string-holder, cut from the tail of the back. 88
The back of the peghead is an elaborately carved extra layer: on the rear are two grotesque heads, the upper with ram’s horns and the lower, forming a hook shape, with scroll-like tusks. Between the two heads are a male and female satyr back to back, with two arms raised and two bound together. Emerging from the mouth of the upper grotesque head is a female head with a separate carved ruff; this head has traces of paint and is in a different style from the other carving. Each head on the back of the peghead has inserted gemstone eyes. Commentary A similar but not identical design of two satyrs and grotesque heads can be seen on the anonymous cittern in the Hill Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Boyden 1969, no.33), and another that is attributed to Girolamo Virchi, Brescia, in the Musée de la Musique, Paris (E 1271); both instruments differ from RCM 48 in having constructed, not carved, backs and ribs. RCM 48 retains its original varnish whereas the Paris cittern was restored in 1700 by Stradivari (and was formerly attributed to him). An arch-cittern (ceterone) by Campi in the Museo Bardini, Florence, has a label as well as the stamp and seems to be the only other surviving instrument signed by this maker (Hellwig 1971, p.24 & pl.II). Although these and similar citterns have been considered to be of Brescian origin, it has been suggested that Campi may have worked in Pescina (near L’Aquila, Abruzzi), since a Giuseppe Campi was working there 1760–2 (Antonioni 1996, p.25); there seems to be no supporting documentation for Girolamo’s presence there, however, and the name Campi is to be found elsewhere (for instance in Cremona). Possibly Girolamo Campi moved to Pescina later having trained in Brescia. The label of the Campi ceterone has been read as: Gieronimo Campi fece, Innocentio Peretti il Luchesino Inventor, indicating that Innocentio Peretti of Lucca was the inventor; Monteverdi called for ceteroni in his opera Orfeo (1607) in Mantua, not far from Brescia.
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: detail of stamp on back
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Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48; see also colour plates, p.7
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: lower part of back and string holder
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: lower part of front showing stringholder, purfling and traces of the bridge position 89
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Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894. According to the label inside, the cittern was formerly owned by the painter Titian (died 1576), for which there is no further evidence, and later by the composer Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868). Before that it was in the possession of the tenor, Giovanni Matteo Mario (1810–83). ‘It was in the museum of Mario, the singer, at Florence. At his death it became the property of Rossini, the composer, at whose sale it was purchased for the collection it is now in.’ (Donaldson 1896, pl.XIX). Other records confirm that the cittern was bought at the sale after Rossini’s death in 1868, but this entry is erroneous concerning Mario, who lived until 1883. He had a museum in his home (between 1853 and 1871), the Villa Salviati in Florence; according to a press report on the Donaldson Museum, Mario sold the cittern to Rossini. References Donaldson 1896, pl.XIX Galpin 1928, p.880 Galpin 1968, p.82, pl.XXXV Technical drawing by Ian Harwood, 1974, © RCM Wright, 1977, pp.32 & 36 Segerman, 1978, pp.53–5 Grijp 1981, pp.67 & 80 Forrester 1983, pp.20 & 22 Wells 1984, p.13 Forrester 1991, pp.11 & 17 & fn.13 p.19 Antonioni 1996, p.25 Forrester 2005, pp.34 & 49
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) Anonymous lithograph (London: Willis & Co., 1835) © RCM Centre for Performance History
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: detail of label
Giovanni Matteo Mario (1810–83) Lithograph (from Ny Portefeuille, 1843) © RCM Centre for Performance History 90
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Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: peghead, bass side
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: peghead, back
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: peghead, treble side with later pegs
Cittern, Girolamo Campi, RCM 48: peghead, ¾ front 91
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RCM 27 Hamburger Cithrinchen (Bell Cittern) Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, 1676 Inscriptions Printed label: IOCHIM TIELKE / in Hamburg, An.1676 Engraved on three of the ivory ribs of back: [on second ivory rib from bass side] IOCHIM [on central rib] TIELKE [on second ivory rib from treble side] HAMBURG / fecit / 1676 Brief description Hamburger Cithrinchen, a cittern with bell-shaped outline and six courses Dimensions : 617 (tail slopes, so pins do not protrude) : 266 : 232 : at tail 27.3, at joint 42 : (twice distance from nut to octave fret) bass 344.2, treble 346.6; currently bass 337, treble 342.5 Description Wire-strung; the lowest two courses single, the upper four double. Front transversely arched, of cypress or possibly yew, with very narrow depression around the edges close to the purfling. Three soundholes with terraced and pierced roses, one in the centre and two smaller ones near lower corners. Main rose has three layers, lowest missing, of gilded leather and paper, each horizontal layer two-ply; vertical collars between, of leather decorated with punched holes. Smaller roses of similar construction. Diameter of soundholes: main 52.3mm, smaller 26.6mm. Back of five ivory and six ebony ribs tapering out fanwise from button; ribs separated with contrasted lines of black and white purfling; back slightly vaulted both lengthways and transversely. Tapering ribs of marquetry on unidentified groundwork; the central strip of marquetry has flowing foliate ornament of ivory in tortoiseshell, between purfling
lines and ebony border strips. Neck of ?beech, with a deeper spine running under treble side of fingerboard; flatter rectangular section, full-width, forms core of fingerboard. Substantial heel to neck, decorated with strips of bone and ebony; similar strips on back of flat section of neck. Pegbox veneered in tortoiseshell with more marquetry on back similar to ribs; front edges have chequered edging. Finial a carved and ebonised girl’s head, with inserted bone and ebony eyes; hair decorated with bone studs. Hole in top of back of head, possibly for missing hanging-ring or neck-ribbon. Ten ivory pegs; eighteen metal frets retained with ebony and bone wedges. Fingerboard decorated with strips of bone and ebony, and edged with ivory to hide ends of fret slots. Fretting irregular and sloping, giving longer strings in treble than bass. Fret distances from nut: Fret Bass
Treble
Fret
Bass
Treble
1
18.0
18.4
10
150.2 150.7
2
36.0
36.3
11
162.4 163.9
3
54.5
55.4
12
172.1 173.3
4
70.0
70.5
13
182.2 183.2
5
84.7
85.8
14
-
191.0
6
100.0 100.7
15
-
201.2
7
112.4 113.0
16
-
207.2
8
124.6 125.5
17
-
213.3
9
135.6 136.2
18
-
436.2
Frets 14–18 are not full width; fret wire 0.77mm thick; slight concavity between frets. Bridge of black-stained ?beech with fret wire insert; on two feet with the profile of a wide squat violin bridge 13.7mm high. Two ?original hitchpins of bone in tailblock. Fingerboard length: 226mm; width: at nut 40.7mm, at joint 44.5mm. Commentary This is the earliest of the Hamburger Cithrinchen in Günther Hellwig’s catalogue of surviving instruments by Joachim Tielke (1641–1719); see Hellwig 1980. It is also apparently the earliest surviving example of the type. See also Guitar RCM 16. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894
Hamburger Cithrinchen, Joachim Tielke, RCM 48: detail of body
92
References Inventions 1885, p.1 Hipkins 1888, pl.XXIII, p.45 Donaldson 1896, pl.XIII Hipkins 1921, pl.XXIII, p.53 Hipkins 1945, pl.XXIII, p.53 Hellwig 1964, p.33 Galpin 1968, p.82 Hellwig 1980, pp.119, 123, 144–5, 339 & ill. pp.82, 122, 144–5 Forrester 1983, p.19 Wells 1984, p.13 Coates 1985, pp.144–6, 158, 162 & ill. pl.XXIX
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Hamburger Cithrinchen, Joachim Tielke, RCM 48; see also colour plates, p.8
Hamburger Cithrinchen, Joachim Tielke, RCM 48: detail of inscription on back
Hamburger Cithrinchen, Joachim Tielke, RCM 48: detail of head 93
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RCM 21 English Guitar J C Elschleger, English, c.1750 Inscriptions At the bottom of the back of the pegbox engraved on a mother-of-pearl cartouche: J.C.Elschleger / 17 [?]{53} On cartouche on centre of back: M / C. of. / C. F Brief description English guitar (known in the 18th century as ‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) c.1750, originally with lateral pegs Dimensions : 817½ : 354 : at tail 74.4, at joint 60 : at nut 48.3, at joint 56 : 76.6 : 454 (no bridge; nut to octave fret: 227) Description Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Pear-shaped outline, slightly arched both crossways and lengthways. Front, two-piece, of fine to wide grain. Cast ormolu rose, slightly domed, set in thin raised dark wooden ring; decorative collar of tortoiseshell with small inlaid discs, flowers and acanthus-like elements of engraved mother-of-pearl. Rose shows King David playing the harp, seated on elaborate stool with S-curved legs, between four columns,
surrounded by garlands and instruments including oboes, recorders, horns, violins and guitars. Mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell fleur de lys ornament inlaid above saddle at tail; no edging or purfling. Ribs and two-piece back of maple with figure of strong curl. Another inlaid motherof-pearl decoration in centre of back consisting of a canopy over a rococo cartouche. End-pin for neck-ribbon and ten turned ivory hitchpins at tail. At button on back, in mother-of-pearl, a solar face in cartouche. The back slightly vaulted in both directions; ribs taper towards neck. Convex tortoiseshell fingerboard veneered on beech; twelve metal frets; three holes for capo tasto behind first three frets. Engraved mother-of-pearl rococo ornament next to nut: four-pointed star of mother-of-pearl behind fifth fret. Neck and pegbox of beech with simple incised line decoration on sides of pegbox; ten machine screws for tuning. The worm gears mounted on the sides of the pegbox have very worn watch-key heads; these replace ten conventional lateral pegs. Finial a female head with hair gathered up onto top of head; small pendant flower petal shape of mother-of-pearl inlaid on back of pegbox. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XI Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Baines 1966, p.43 & ill.
English guitar, J C Elschleger, RCM 21 94
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RCM 333 English Guitar Michael Rauche, London, 1767 Inscriptions: In ink on button: Rauche / London / 1767 Brief description English guitar (‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) dated 1767, with original watch-key tuners Dimensions : 704, without hitchpins 700 : 342 (to end of ribs) : 302 : at tail 60.5 tail, at joint 69 : 448 Description Six courses, the lowest two single, the upper four double. Front two-piece, edged with chequered wood banding and painted purfling. Soundhole with an elaborate composite and domed wooden rose partially cut from the wood of the front; a pierced ring of mother-of-pearl diamond shapes contains a twelve-pointed star, the rays formed from alternating strips of ivory and ?ivory stained green; flame shapes between the rays; collar of two painted lines. Arched bridge of ebony pierced and
undercut with ivory insert. Back and ribs of burr maple, edged with chequered wood banding; also in rib joints at tail and at neck joint. Ivory hitchpins at tail. Flamed maple neck; holes for capo tasto behind the first four frets. Hook-shaped finial, in one piece with original tuninghead and neck, with eight-pointed star inlaid in flat front face. Tuning by ten watch-key tuners moving hooks along threaded rods. Arched fingerboard with twelve frets. Soundhole diameter: 74.7mm; centre from tail: 204mm. Commentary The pull of the strings is at a greater angle to the screw threads than on later mechanisms, and this has tended to distort the mechanism; Rauche also uses a coarser thread. He worked ‘At the Sign of the Guittar and Flute, Chandois Street’; Rauche also published music, including Three Sonatas for the Guittar by Rudolf Straube in 1768. Another Rauche ‘guittar’, dated 1770, survives in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (see Boyden 1969, no 36) and a lute (1762) in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Baines 1968, 7/7). Provenance Gift of Miss Seymour Winyates, 1970 References None located
English guitar, Michael Rauche, RCM 333 95
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RCM 315 English Guitar Longman, Lukey & Co, London, c.1770 Inscriptions Stamp on button of back: LONGMAN LUKEY & C o / N o 26 CHEAPSIDE / LONDON On front face of stump of tuning head: PRESTON Brief description English guitar (‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) lacking tuning-head and bridge Dimensions : (currently 557: tuning-head missing) : to ends of ribs 342 : 290 : at neck joint 50.5, at tail 69.5 : 424 (twice distance to octave fret) Description Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Body of pear-shaped outline with two-piece flat front of wide to fine grain at edges; painted purfling: two lines at edges and three around soundhole. Domed ormolu rose in the form of
eight-pointed foliate star surrounded by garlands, set in turned ivory collar. Nine ivory hitchpins at tail and ivory saddle and tailpin. Dark golden-brown varnish. Ribs of maple with figure of moderate curl; one-piece back of maple of strong curl; two lines of painted purfling. Maple neck of slight curl. Fingerboard veneered in tortoiseshell with ebony edging and mother-of-pearl ornaments at both ends; twelve frets, the first five with holes for capo tasto drilled on bass side of centre line. Tuning-head missing. Fingerboard width: at nut 46.5mm, at joint 55.3mm. Soundhole diameter: 71.5mm. Commentary Longman, Lukey and Co traded from 1769–73 as instrument makers and dealers, music sellers, printers and publishers; from 1773 the firm became Longman, Lukey and Broderip. According to the stamp, this instrument was supplied by John Preston (see also English Guitars, RCM 161, 331, 332). Provenance Gift of Lady Leslie, 1966 References None located
English guitar, Longman, Lukey & Co, RCM 315 96
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RCM 161 English Guitar, John Preston, London, c.1770
333) show that watch-key tuning was in use in the 1760s; it is likely that Preston was using it then too. See also English guitars RCM 315, 331 and 332.
Inscriptions Stamped beneath a crown: J P / PRESTON MAKER / LONDON In ink on front in an oval: Preston Maker / London Engraved on watch-key tuning mechanism (bass to treble): C E G C E G / PRESTON INVENTOR
Provenance Gift of John and Edith Hipkins, 1911; formerly owned by their father, A J Hipkins
Brief description English guitar (‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) with watch-key tuning and cast ormolu rose Dimensions : 688, without tail-button 681 : 342 (to end of ribs) : 287 : at tail 69.2 at joint 52.7 : 424
References Grove 1878–90, v.1 p.640 & ill. Remnant 1978, p.41 Grove 1980, ill. v.6 p.199 Grove 1984, ill. v.1 p.706 Remnant 1989, ill. p.45 Grove 2001, ill. v.8 p.244
Description Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, overspun, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Body of pear-shaped outline with two-piece flat front of medium grain; herringbone edging and single painted purfling. Cast ormolu rose, slightly domed, depicting seated female figure playing a cittern-like instrument; set in an ivory ring surrounded by four painted lines. Ribs and one-piece back of figured maple with painted purfling; four crossbars on inside back. Ten hitch-pegs of ivory in tail-block in two staggered lines; ivory saddle; turned ivory tailpin for neck-strap. One-piece neck and tuning-head of maple of medium curl; hook finial above tuners is a separate piece; neck and top-block probably one-piece. Flat face of hook finial has panel of tortoisehell backed with metal-leaf and with ebony edging. Fingerboard of convex section, veneered in tortoiseshell with metal-leaf backing and ebony edging; twelve metal, non-ferrous, frets 0.89mm thick. Mother-of-pearl ornamental strips at each end of fingerboard; ivory nut; capo tasto holes behind top four frets. Black-stained bridge in form of a shallow arch with convex top of ivory; 23.6mm at highest point. Preston’s watch-key tuners: a brass tuning-slide box with ten sliders riding on ten threaded rods turned by watch-key heads. Fret distances from nut: 1 22.2
5 104.4
9 171.5
2 43.9
6 122.7
10 187.1
3 65.9
7 139.9
11 200.5
4 85.0
8 156.7
12 212.5
Commentary The fretting would give an unequal temperament. John Preston (d.1798) also made Spanish guitars and violins, and established a flourishing business firm (Preston and Son, after his son Thomas joined in 1789). Preston claimed the invention of the watch-key tuning mechanism in an advertisement of 1778 (Humphries and Smith, p.263); no patent is recorded and surviving dated instruments by other makers such as Rauche (see RCM
English guitar, John Preston, RCM 161
97
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RCM 331 English Guitar John Preston, London, c.1770 Inscriptions Brand on back of tuning-head below monogram: PRESTON MAKER / LONDON Engraved on watch-key tuning mechanism (bass to treble): C E G C E G / PRESTON INVENTOR Brief description English guitar (‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) with a rose of wood Dimensions : 683, without tailbutton 678 : 341 : 291½ : at neck joint 51.5, at tail 68 : 424 Description Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, overspun, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Body of pear-shaped outline with two-piece flat front of wide grain; two lines of painted purfling and seven around
soundhole. Arched ebonised bridge. Soundhole with domed rose, of two-ply construction, in the form of a twelve-pointed star, each ray veneered in ebony and ivory and linked by flame-like shapes in maple. Ribs and back of maple with figure of narrow curl; two lines of painted purfling. Brown varnish. Ebony-veneered convex fingerboard with twelve frets; holes for capo tasto behind first four frets. Plain maple neck and tuning-head with hook finial; ebony on flat face of finial inlaid with eightpointed star, the rays of ivory and a dark wood. Ten watch-key tuners. Later green leather guard enclosing ends of strings at tail. Commentary The rose is very like that of the English guitar by Rauche, dated 1767, RCM 333. See also English guitars RCM 315, 161 and 322. Provenance Gift of Miss Seymour Winyates, 1970 References None located
English guitar, John Preston, RCM 331 98
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RCM 332 English Guitar John Preston, London, c.1770 Inscriptions Stamp on button under monogram: PRESTON MAKER LONDON Engraved on watch-key tuning mechanism (bass to treble): C E G C E G Brief description English guitar (‘guittar’ or ‘cetra’) with cast metal rose Dimensions : 689, without tailpin 682 : 345 (to end of ribs) : 293 : 70 at tail, 52.7 at joint : 424 Description: Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Front two-piece.
Domed cast metal rose depicting King David with harp among wreaths and garlands; ivory collar, and three painted lines. Arched bridge on two feet. Back and ribs of closely figured maple. Golden varnish; painted purfling front and back. Ivory tailpin for neck-strap; ten hitchpins in tail-block; ivory saddle. Slightly arched tortoiseshell fingerboard with twelve metal frets and borders of mother-of-pearl each end; ivory nut; capo tasto holes behind the four lowest frets. Plain maple neck with added piece to form hook finial, with remains of applied embossed ornament on flat face. Watch-key tuners. Maximum height of bridge: 22mm. Fingerboard width: at nut 46.3mm, at joint 54.5mm. Commentary See also English guitars RCM 315, 161 and 331. Provenance Gift of Miss Seymour Winyates, 1970 References None located
English guitar, John Preston, RCM 332 99
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RCM 241 English Guitar with keys English, c.1790 Inscriptions None
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899 References Wells 1984, p.13
Brief descriptions English guitar (‘pianoforte guitar’) with six keys operating a hammer action Dimensions : 725, without hitchpegs 721½ : 385 : 300 : at tail 75.9, at joint 45.2 : 424½ (twice distance to octave fret 426) Description Six courses, wire-strung; the lowest two single, the upper four double; tuned c, e, g, c1, e1, g1. Simple spoon-shaped outline. Front two-piece of fine to wide, slightly wavy grain. Golden varnish; herringbone edging; wide red and black painted purfling; similar on back and ribs. Back two-piece, of figured maple curved lengthways and slightly transversely. Ribs of fainter curl. Rose of cast metal, slightly domed, with a raised and turned moulded collar of ivory; two lines of red and black painted purfling form collar. Rose depicts two figures, a man playing a flute and a woman a hurdy-gurdy, surrounded by flowers and garlands. Neck and tuning-head of maple with figure of slight curl; hook finial is an extra piece. Square face of finial veneered with decorative plaque made of veneers of ?holly, ?walnut and ?maple. Convex ebony-veneered fingerboard with twelve brass frets; nut of ivory; capo tasto holes behind first three frets. Strings tuned by ten watchkey tuners. Ten turned ivory hitch-pegs in tail-block. Key and hammer mechanism is contained in an elliptical box mounted on two legs which are attached to the tail-block by two brass screws. Rim of keybox of maple and top of softwood, decorated with painted purfling matching the rest of the instrument. Six plain bone touch-plates on an underlayer of mahogany operate a simple hammer action. Hammers of mahogany; limewood heads, leather-covered. Commentary The irregular openings in the rose appear to have been pierced after casting. Neck and top-block seem to be in one piece. The hammer-action is in effect an inversion of Zumpe’s square piano action but with wire springs instead of gravity to return key and hammer. There is no escapement: the limit of the key fall prevents the hammer blocking on the string. On the hammer-heads are two flat layers of leather covered with two more wrapped around, flesh-side out. Three lowest hammers original, the other three replacements; strike point of hammers is c.32mm from nut. A similar detachable box and hammer-action added later to an English guitar by Hintz now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is marked ‘Smith’s Patent Box’ (see Baines 1968, pp.48, 50 and fig.72). No patent is recorded and nothing further is known of Smith.
100
English guitar with keys, RCM 241
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G C B G-C L G H-L
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RCM 171 Guitar Belchior Dias, Lisbon, 1581 Inscriptions Label: Belchior dias a fez em / lx a nomes de dez ro 1581 [Belchior Dias made it in Lisbon in the month of December 1581] On inlaid plaque of stained boxwood on front of peghead near top, in red lettering carved in relief: BCHIOR / DIASLXA Brief description Small five-course Renaissance guitar with vaulted and fluted back (see Commentary); front, c.1730, with later nut and bridge for five single strings Dimensions : 771 : 362 : upper bouts 165, middle bouts 146, lower bouts 199 : at neck joint 39, at tail, minimum (lowest point of flute) 57; maximum 63 : 553 (with current bridge) Description Later front, probably French, the moustaches, decoration in ebony and boxwood around soundholes, ebony edging and constructional details resembling those on a guitar by Pierre Marchal; the proportions of bridge and soundhole seem too large and may have been copied from an earlier ready-made baroque guitar front on the instrument (Barber Notes 1976, p.2). Soundhole diameter: 69.5mm; centre of soundhole from nut: 383.8mm. Bridge is from a later stage than front and moustaches. Back of seven staves of ?kingwood (dalbergia cearensis), bent across both width and length; radius of transverse curve c.15–16mm; ivory lines c.0.85mm wide between staves. Three-part lines along the centres of alternate staves; line along centre of middle stave continues up neck and peghead; lines along centre of ribs continue along neck to peghead sides. ?Linen tape over joints, and a few small pine blocks; small tapering pine strips glued to ribs. Ribs housed into top-block. Neck and top-block carved in one piece from solid ebony; ebony peghead, the front veneered with two pieces of a close-grained tropical hardwood (?brazilwood), bookmatched. ‘Purfling’ around sides of peghead is laminated right through it, as revealed in pegholes. Fingerboard of four strips of the same wood as peghead facing, with alternating grain direction and marquetry interlace pattern in three-line purfling; assembled from prefabricated strips; lowest section a replacement in ebony. Width of fingerboard: at joint 47.8mm, at nut 40.2mm; there is room for ten tied frets. Later ebony nut for five single strings. Ten pegholes; one later centred hole, drilled at an angle, close to nut (see Commentary). Nine later pegs present. Small hole at tail for button (missing), for neck-ribbon. Commentary Perceived in the last forty years as the earliest surviving guitar; however the rediscovery of the vihuela (formerly de Chambure collection, now Musée de la Musique, Paris, 102
E.0748) with a similar vaulted and fluted back has stimulated further research (see Dugot 1998; Dugot et al 2004) and it has been suggested that RCM 171 may have been originally conceived as a six-course, eleven-string vihuela (Batov 2006). This hypothesis is based on the assumption that the central eleventh hole is original. In view of the sophisticated design and decoration of the Dias, however, it seems clear that the central hole was added later, since it does not accord with the purfled ornament. It is also so close to the nut that its peg would obstruct the player’s left hand; furthermore, eleven strings on a fingerboard of this width would result in extremely close spacing. RCM 171 dates from the period when the five-course guitar was emerging (see Corona-Alcalde 1990; Grove 2001, v.10, p.557). Clearly RCM 171 and E.0748 (which, like the other surviving vihuelas, is larger) are very similar in construction and from the same tradition, possibly from the same workshop. RCM 171 also resembles in some respects a larger anonymous guitar with a flat back (formerly owned by Robert Spencer, now in the collection of Frank and Leanne Koonce), which has a similar decorative design in purfling on the fingerboard and peghead (Tyler & Sparks 2002, pp.9 & 11, pl.1.2). Belchior Dias was probably related to, possibly a son of, Diogo Dias, citizen of Lisbon, who was appointed personal violeiro to D. João III in a charter dated 24th March 1551 (Morais 1975, pp.71–2). A dendrochronological analysis showed the date of the youngest ring on the bass side of the front as 1725 and on the treble side as 1724 (Topham 2003). This confirms the dating proposed by Stephen Barber; Pierre Paul Marchal worked between 1725 and 1738 in Mirecourt. Provenance A later gift from Sir George Donaldson, after his second collection given in 1899. A H Frere (Honorary Keeper) listed it in 1926 as ‘Donaldson Collection’, and also stated that Donaldson made gifts up to the time of his death (1925). No accession records for these later gifts have yet been found but several sources show that the Donaldson collection was still housed in the Donaldson Museum, separate from the other instruments, in 1926. A reference published in 1907 corroborates Frere’s record of another Donaldson gift after 1899 (see Rebecchino, RCM 212, p.173). It is possible that RCM 171 was formerly in the Medici collection in Florence. An inventory, dated 1700, of the collection of Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici (1663–1713) includes a description of a similar guitar, with an earlier front and rose: Una Chitarra alla spagnola, con fondo di abeto e rosa con sfondo tutto d’intaglio finissimo con alcuni filetti neri e d’avorio che la circondano torno torno, con cordiera, bischeriera, manico, fascie e corpo scannellato, il tutto d’ebano filettato di diversi lavori d’avorio, con bischeri di noce, e su la bischeriera per davanti vi è un’iscritione zu un pezzetto di bossolo impressa con stampa, nel medesimo bossolo, che dice: Bechior Diaslxa, con sua contro cassa coperta di cuoio nero con suoi maschietti e toppa. (Gai 1969, p.20).
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[A guitar in the Spanish style with front of fir, and rose of finest carving, circled by black and ivory inlays, with bridge, peghead, neck, sides and fluted back all of ebony inlaid with ivory, with pegs of walnut, and on the front of the peghead an inscription on a small piece of boxwood, stamped in the middle saying: Bechior Diaslxa, with a case covered in black leather with hinges and lock.]
Arriaga, 2004, p.20 Batov 2004, pp.11–14 Dugot et al 2004, pp.7, 27, 59, 60, 63, 65, 66 & ill. 68–9, 70 & ill. 71, 92, 95 Batov 2006, pp.17, 18 & ill., p.19 & ill., pp.20–5 Martin 2006, p.136
This description fits RCM 171: any label and date would have been obscured by the rose and the wood has been described as ebony by many. If the guitar was indeed RCM 171, and was acquired for the Medici court when new, it is likely to have been played in the earliest performances in the monodic style. These included Cavalieri’s Ballo del Gran Duca for the spectacular Intermedi at the wedding of Ferdinando de’ Medici (1589), when the singer Vittoria Archilei accompanied herself on the ‘chitarrina…alla Spagnola’ and Lucia Caccini on the ‘chitarrina…alla Napolettano’ (Tyler & Sparks 2002, pp.33–5). If the Medici guitar was not RCM 171 but a similar instrument by Dias, its presence is still of the greatest interest in linking one of his guitars to the extensive and significant Florentine repertoire, and indicates the reputation of its maker. Like most of the Medici instruments, this guitar was apparently sold in 1777, when the auction inventory included ‘Una chitarra d’ebano, filettata in parte d’avorio, con fondo scannellato e custodia coperta di corame nero’ [‘A guitar of ebony inlaid with ivory, with fluted back and case covered in black leather’]. (For information on the Medici collection see Rossi Rognoni 2001, pp.13–25). References Technical drawing with additional Notes by Stephen Barber, 1976, © RCM Baines 1966, p.47 & ill. Galpin 1968, p.82 ?Gai 1969, p.20 Turnbull 1974, pp.10–11, 19, 21, 67, 141–2, pl.14, 28, 39 & 45 Morais 1975, pp.70–2 Tyler 1975, pp.346–7 Evans 1977, p.27 & ill. Grove 1980, v.7 p.828 & ill. p.829 Guitares 1980, pp.56–7, ill. pp.58–9 Abondance 1983, p.29 Lisbon 1983, no.33 & ill. Grove 1984, v.2 p.90 & ill. p.91 Wells 1984, p.13 Coates 1985, pp.148, 162 & ill. p.149 Corona-Alcalde 1990, p.10 Dugot 1998, pp.312, 313 & ill. pp.314–5, 317 Grove 2001, v.10 p.554, ill. pp.555 & 557 Kuronen 2001, p.25 Freeth and Alexander 2002, ill. pp.20–1 Tyler & Sparks 2002, pp.9, 35 & ill. pl.I.I. p.10 Romanillos 2003, pp.xix–xxi Schreiner 2003, pp.7–11 Topham 2003, p.137
Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171: details of peghead
Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171: detail of inscription on peghead
103
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Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171
Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171: detail of body, lower end 104
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Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171: detail of label
Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171: detail of front showing position of label
Guitar, Belchior Dias, RCM 171 105
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RCM 141 Guitar Giovanni Tesler, Ancona, c.1620 Inscriptions At top of front, branded (twice): G T [with an anchor between the letters] On paper label on front above bridge and in ink on soundboard: 8580 [inventory number]
References Donaldson 1896, pl.XL Evans 1977, p.28 & ill. Guitares 1980, p.50 Abondance 1983, p.34
Brief description Five-course baroque guitar, later converted to six single strings Dimensions : 884 : 448½ : upper bouts 199, middle bouts 175, lower bouts 247 : at neck joint 66.3, at tail 57.0 : 615 to current bridge Description Front two-piece, book-matched, of fine to medium grain: edges have banding of mother-of-pearl in mastic with outer line of bone. Soundhole with large decorative collar of overlapping semicircles as on edge-banding, the interstices filled with more mother-of-pearl inlays in mastic; inserted rose of arabesque pattern made from two wooden layers with two bars crossing; soundhole diameter: 76.4mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 314.2mm. Inlaid mother-ofpearl vase and flowers near tail; blank shield and fleur de lys at end of fingerboard. Foliate moustaches survive from the original bridge. Ribs and back of snakewood: ribs of five strips, the back of 21, separated by bone lines. Back of neck chequered with bone/snakewood marquetry. The peghead is laminated, consisting of eight alternate layers of bone and wood, with a front face of ebony, bone, and mother-ofpearl marquetry; there are four plugged holes on the surface of the back of the peghead but none on the front so this decoration is not original. Fingerboard covered in similar marquetry, with later bone frets; width of fingerboard: at joint 52.3mm, at nut 47.2mm. Later bridge for single strings also has this style of mother-of-pearl decoration on top. Commentary The vertical chequerboard strip at the rib joint on the tailblock stops short at the top strip of the ribs, the remainder being filled by a plain wood inlay. This, as well as some lifting and distortion of tail block, ribs and front, suggests that there was a stage when the strings were hitched to the tail. The bone nut is scalloped between the strings, which may disguise the modification of the original paired notches. The mark G T with an anchor identifies the maker, Giovanni Tesler (Tessler); a lute in the Museo Bardini, Florence, has both the mark and a label, Giovanni Tesler in Ancona 1621 (see Hellwig 1971, p.29). Other guitars by Tesler with decoration like that on RCM 141 survive, for example in Rome and Copenhagen. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 106
Guitar, Giovanni Tesler, RCM 141: detail of brand on front
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Guitar, Giovanni Tesler, RCM 141 107
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RCM 105 Guitar Italian, c.1630 Inscriptions None Brief description Five-course baroque guitar with vaulted back; much altered Dimensions : 874, without tail-button 865 : 468 : upper bouts 210, middle bouts 190, lower bouts 256 : at neck joint 62.3, at tail 83.2, at deepest point 92.3 : 637 to current bridge Description Front two-piece, book-matched, of fine to medium grain, edged with black lines: front has been reworked and thinned, resulting in loss of inlay at top end and exposure of worm channels. Soundhole with bevelled edges and narrow ring of bone, surrounded by collar of diamonds in bone set in black mastic between two lines of purfling; remnants of card/paper rose under rim; soundhole diameter: 80mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 310mm. Moustaches from an earlier, but not original, bridge: carved leaves, once stained black; the present six-stringed bridge of rosewood, from a later stage. Dark wood inlays at both ends of the front. Ribs of alternate ebony strips and bone lines, the top strip roughly double the width of the
Guitar, Italian, RCM 105 108
others; nine strips at the deepest point of the sides. Fluted back of 37 strips, concave in cross-section, with bone lines between; the strips were hollowed after assembly and are thickest at the joints. Turned ivory end-pin. Neck and peghead veneered in marquetry, with arabesque ornament. Fingerboard has later geometric ivory and ebony panels flanked by disc and lozenge side strips with purfling and bone edging. Width of fingerboard: at joint 52.8mm, at nut 49mm. Front of peghead similar, in bone and ebony. The purfling lines on the back of the neck run onto the sides of the peghead. The frets are of different materials: bone, ivory and metal. The peghead has been shortened by c.30mm. Six ivory pegs, not turned but shaped by hand, those pegs furthest from the nut being in old holes, and the others in later holes. Two peg-holes from another arrangement are plugged. Commentary The plugged tuning-peg holes nearest the nut are now under it; the peghead has been re-jointed under a later thicker fingerboard. The present decoration on the front of the fingerboard is an imitation in ivory and ebony instead of bone and ebony and the edging there appears nowhere else on the instrument. The decoration on the back of the neck is similar to that applied to guitars by Venetian makers such as Matteo and Giorgio Sellas; the decoration on the back of the peghead appears to be from a different source. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX
Guitar, Italian, RCM 105: detail of the rear of the neck
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RCM 6 Guitar Attributed to Jakob (Giacobus) Stadler, Naples, c.1650 Inscriptions None Brief description Five-course baroque guitar with engraved decoration Dimensions : 974 : at front 488 : upper bouts 219, middle bouts 193, lower bouts 270 : at neck joint 115, at tail 93.8 : 710 to current bridge Description Front fine-grained, extensively inlaid with flowing arabesque in what appears to be a black mastic; moustaches of bridge in the same style and material. Crude later bridge fastened with steel screws. Banding of bone and ebony zigzag pattern around front and soundhole, which has a blackened bevelled edge; original rose missing. Ribs are formed of strips of ebony and bone, with hunting scenes engraved on the centre strip of bone; the outer strips have scrolling foliage with purfling lines between. Back has five similar bone strips, slightly fanned, engraved with birds, animals and foliage, with smaller pieces of same at edges of upper and lower bouts, alternating with plain ebony strips. A two-tailed mermaid (melusine) is engraved on bone at the rib joint on the tailblock. Each strip of bone is formed of two pieces butted at approximately the mid-point of the back; there are similar joints in the rib pieces. The inside of the back is lined all over with plain laid paper which goes over the bars; the ribs are lined with parchment or vellum. Back of neck and heel are striped with bone and ebony lines; back of peghead is similarly treated. Fingerboard has engraved bone plaques, possibly some, or all, not original; one shows Orpheus as lira da gamba player calming the beasts, and another a coat of arms with a lion. The pegs are not original and the top end of the peghead has been modified. Soundhole diameter: 85.7mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 323.8mm. Width of fingerboard: at nut 48.9mm, at joint 58.6mm.
Commentary Attributed to Jakob (Giacobus) Stadler, maker of lutes and guitars, apparently born in Füssen; recorded dates in Naples 1611–45, as Kirchenmeister der dell’Anima Bruderschaft, and 1660, as Mitunterzeichner der I. Dotenstiftung der Bruderschaft (Bletschacher 1978, p.206). A dendrochronological analysis gave 1640 as the date of the youngest ring on the bass side, and 1637 on the treble side (Topham 2003). A number of guitars with engraved hunting scenes survive, some by Stadler (for example dated 1624, former Hill collection), others by makers such as Longo, Naples (in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan), and Hanggele, Milan (sold at Sotheby’s, 18th November 1993). The engraving would have been done by a specialist; the animals, birds and hunting scenes on RCM 6 seem closest to, and may derive directly or indirectly from, the work of the Nuremberg artist, Virgil Solis (1514–62), who had a large workshop and produced many prints of these and other subjects designed for ornament purposes (see Hollstein 2004, v.LXIV, pp.180, 194, 226 & 229). His prints are often long and narrow in design without much background. Another likely source is the series of prints of birds by Hans Liefrinck (Antwerp, 1571, re-published by Visscher in 1631); these images are also close to those on the guitar (information from Giulia Bartrum). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.IV Turnbull 1974, p.21 & pl.28c Evans 1977, p.31 & ill. Grove 1980, v.7, ill. p.829 Grove 1984, v.2 p.90 & ill. p.91 Wells 1984, p.13 Grove 2001, v.10, ill. p.555 Freeth and Alexander 2002, ill. p.26 Topham 2003, p.138
Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: detail of peghead
Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: detail of fingerboard, showing figure of Orpheus
Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: detail of fingerboard, showing a hunting scene 109
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Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6; see also colour plates, p.9 110
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Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: details of body – bass side, back, treble side
Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: detail of lower end of body
Guitar, attr. Jakob Stadler, RCM 6: detail of peghead 111
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RCM 32 Guitar Attributed to René Voboam, Paris, c.1650 Inscriptions None Brief description Baroque guitar with five courses, altered to six strings Dimensions : 933 : 459 : upper bouts 215, middle bouts 191.5, lower bouts 256 : at neck joint 76.9, at tail 94.2 : 687 to current bridge Description Front four-piece, of fine grain, later stained dark brown; the two inner pieces book-matched, as are the outer two. Later bridge of ebony with insert of ?ivory; moustache finials appear to be original. Four bars across underside of front; two above rose, one below it and an oblique bar between bridge and rose, which slopes down from bass side to treble side; also a short bar on either side of soundhole and two more sloping up towards bridge (see x-ray). Three-tier rose of cut and punched ?leather, later painted gold. The top layer is a six-pointed star-shaped opening with gothic piercing and six small tapering spires of ornamental punchings on metal spikes; the next layer a circular opening with gothic piercings; the lowest level carries a tapering spire of ornamental punchings at centre. Collar around soundhole has sixteen mother-of-pearl fleur de lys inlaid in ebony, with lines of purfling enclosing circles and lozenges of mother-of-pearl. Soundhole diameter: 79.3mm; centre from tail: 304.6mm. Back and ribs of tortoiseshell veneer laid on a groundwork of ?pine in herringbone patterns, outlined and separated by purfling, and by chequered and herringbone strips of ebony and ivory. There is an ivory and ebony rectangle at the rib joint on the tail-block. Neck and peghead are veneered on a ?maple core and decorated on the back with marquetry strips of herringbone and chequerpattern in the same style as the back and ribs: three strips on neck, two on peghead. Front and fingerboard are edged with chequered band of ivory and ebony, and line of purfling. Fingerboard marquetry of mother-of-pearl quatrefoils; similar smaller quatrefoils down centre front of the peghead. Width of fingerboard: at joint 53.9mm, at nut 45mm. Original ivory pegs with fleur de lys heads, echoing the inlays around rose. Later metal frets in an unequal temperament; fret distances from nut: 1 42.4
5 169.8
9 270.4
2 71.2
6 198.8
10 295.0
3 101.4
7 225.0
11 317.5
4 133.9
8 244.9
This fretting does not tally with the present bridge position; it probably dates from a time when the strings were hitched 112
to the tail and the bridge was movable. The present nut has six single notches dating from the most recent set-up. There are seven iron hitchpins driven through the ribs into the tailblock, with holes for three others, dating from a set-up with five pairs of ?wire strings arranged in mandolin style. Commentary A later plain rectangle of mother-of-pearl, of different shell, in the marquetry at the top of peghead may replace an earlier piece that was perhaps inscribed with the maker’s name. There are signs of other gluing underneath and it is not edged with purfling in a manner consistent with the other ornament. The front was stained dark brown after the fixing of the present bridge. A dendrochronological analysis showed the date of the latest ring on the outer and inner pieces on the bass side of the front as 1646 and 1647 and on both treble pieces as 1646 (Topham 2003). This guitar was formerly attributed to Jean Voboam, c.1680. It is now believed to be by his father, René Voboam, c.1650 (Gétreau 1996); there are close similarities to his guitar dated 1641, now in the Hill Collection, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. René Voboam (before 1606–before 1671) was already known as an instrument builder in 1631 (see Gétreau 2005b and Lütgendorff 1990). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894; formerly owned by Charles Reade (1814–84), novelist and collector; he acquired it in Scotland, c.1860, from a family that had possessed it for generations with the tradition that it had been given by Mary Queen of Scots to David Rizzio. Although the guitar is later in date, and the ‘romantic reputation’ was already recognised by Donaldson as ‘unsupported’, the instrument continues to be designated the ‘Rizzio’ guitar in many sources. Reade’s articles on ‘Cremona Fiddles’ were later published in Readiana (see also Lira da braccio RCM 52). Donaldson gave another guitar, attributed to Jean Voboam, with a case bearing the arms of the Grand Dauphin (1661–1711); these were probably destroyed in 1943 (see p.ix; Gétreau 1988, p.70).
Guitar, attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32: detail of rose
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References Technical drawing with additional Notes by Stephen Barber, 1979, © RCM Inventions 1885, p.1 Hipkins 1888, pl.X, p.19 Donaldson 1896, pl.XV Hipkins 1921, pl.X, p.21 de la Condamine 1926, p.45 & ill. Galpin 1928, p.880 Hipkins 1945, pl.X, p.21
Bellow 1970, pp.53 & 77–8, pl.XLVIa & b Turnbull 1974, pp.20–1, pl.28a & b Evans 1977, p.26 & ill. Guitares 1980, p.87 Wells 1984, p.14 Gétreau 1988, pp.62–4 Gétreau 1996a, p.189 Freeth and Alexander 2002, ill. p.25 Topham 2003, pp.137, 139 & 145 Gétreau 2005b, pp.28, 32–3, 39, 61 & 65
Guitar, attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32; see also colour plates, p.9 113
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Guitar, attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32: details of peghead
Guitar. attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32: X ray
Guitar. attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32: X-rays
Guitar, attr. to René Voboam, RCM 32: detail of lower end of body
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RCM 22 Guitar ?French, second half of 17th century Inscriptions None Brief description Five-course baroque guitar; much altered Dimensions : 949 : 450 : upper bouts 208, middle bouts 187, lower bouts 252 : at neck joint 94.5, at tail 76.3 : (to marks of later bridge for six single strings): c.690
much-altered guitar in the Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments. It has been pointed out that the decoration on both these guitars has similarities to that on a guitar signed ‘Rober[t] Chéron 1[6]94’, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (personal communication from Florence Gétreau). The rose of RCM 22 resembles one in a guitar by Jean-Baptiste Voboam in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. The rose, however, could have been supplied by a specialist craftsman, as could the decoration, and the marquetry on the neck may be from a different source. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XI Wells 1984, p.13
Description Front later, wide-grained, showing marks of two bridge positions; no bridge at present; six plugged holes from pin-bridge for six single strings. The original elaborate terraced rose of very fine workmanship was re-used, fitted slightly off-centre. Of paper and card, it has four levels of pierced, mostly gothic ornament; the second layer down is a six-pointed star, and the lowest carries, as central boss, a wooden spire with a pyramid of nine decorative punchings. Collar of various chequered patterns made from mother-of-pearl, ebony and other materials. Soundhole diameter: 77mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 304.5mm. The ribs have a central strip of scrolling acanthus and flower ornament with birds and insects in bone and ebony marquetry, between lines of chequered bone and ivory. Back of four strips of the same marquetry; plugged holes at top and bottom of back from fixing/location pegs. Ribs and back are made of a coniferous wood, with the marquetry veneers laid on. The X-ray image (radiograph) shows the current barring. Neck has both back and front veneered in bone and ebony marquetry, which continues onto back of peghead. Width of fingerboard: at joint 55.6mm, at nut 45.8mm. Later pegs of ebony and one of rosewood. Nut made in 1969, notched for five courses. The rose, however, could have been supplied by a specialist craftsman, as could the decoration. Commentary A dark wood other than ebony was used for the edging of the later soundboard and as the outer ring of the soundhole collar. This occurs nowhere else except around the edges of the section of the front which goes onto the neck. The decoration is very confused here, and the present front butts against a small section of an earlier front but its edge decoration does not match the rest of the instrument; there may have been three successive fronts. Wear on the current front shows that the instrument has been played extensively with the little fingers of the right hand resting on the soundboard in the traditional ‘lute’ manner. The distinctive marquetry design with birds and insects can also be seen on a cittern (catalogued as German) in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and another
Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: X-rays 115
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Guitar, ?French, RCM 22
Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: detail of rose 116
Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: detail showing join of front to fingerboard
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Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: detail of back
Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: ¾ back
Guitar, ?French, RCM 22: detail of lower end of the body 117
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RCM 16 Guitar Joachim Tielke, Hamburg, first decade of 18th century Inscriptions Fragment of handwritten label: 10 / 17 [the rest of the name and date covered by a bar and lining] Scratched into front of peghead near top: Voban [spurious] Brief description Five-course baroque guitar with vaulted back; converted to six strings Dimensions : 886 : 422 : upper bouts 192, middle bouts 168½, lower bouts 235½ : at neck joint 62.6, at tail 87 : 92 : 630 Description Front two-piece, of fine to medium grain, not symmetrical, with joint off-centre. Moustaches of ?ebony from original bridge; later pin-bridge for six strings with pearl-headed pins. Soundhole collar of ebony and ivory marquetry arabesque enclosed in lines of double purfling. Soundhole diameter: 79.8mm; centre from tail: 278mm. Ribs of ebony and engraved ivory sunflower marquetry, on a coarse calico backing. There is a continuous line of ivory just below edge of front and a tapered strip of reversed marquetry at rib joint on tailblock. Back vaulted, of three wide fluted marquetry strips matching the ribs, separated by strips of ivory and purfling. Three bars cross the inside of the back shaped to the concavity of the staves; the back has coarse calico lining with smaller pieces of thicker canvas reinforcement. Neck and peghead have further floral marquetry, without engraving, on a maple core. The slightly convex fingerboard has composite frets of ivory and ebony, eleven on the neck and six on the front. Width of fingerboard: at joint 53.7mm, at nut 41mm. Commentary Neck/peghead joint has been reworked and the neck shortened by one fret. A later nut is notched for six single strings. A dendrochronological analysis showed the youngest ring on the bass side as 1652 and on the treble side as 1629 (Topham 2003). Günther Hellwig suggested a date of c.1684 for this guitar since it has the same decoration in reverse as guitar no.24 (dated 1684) in his catalogue (Hellwig 1980, pp.165–6). The 17 on the label seems, however, to indicate that RCM 16 is at least sixteen years later. The inscription on the peghead was probably added in the 19th century to convince a purchaser that the guitar was made by one of the Voboams. Joachim Tielke (1641–1719), born in Königsberg, moved c.1666 to Hamburg and in 1767 married Catherina, daughter of J C Fleischer. An outstandingly accomplished and versatile luthier, he built lutes, citterns, 118
guitars, viols and violins that were prized for their fine tone and exquisite decoration (often incorporating sunflower motifs, as on RCM 16 and the Hamburger Cithrinchen, RCM 27). Many have survived in collections: 136 exemplars from 1669–1718 are described in Hellwig’s survey (see Hellwig 1980). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894. Donaldson owned another Tielke guitar (Hellwig 1980, no.116, p.300) as well. Like some of his other instruments, this was loaned for display in the Donaldson Museum at the RCM, not given, and is now in private ownership (see also p.viii and Wells 2007a, pp.117, 124). References Donaldson 1896, pl.IX van der Straeten 1914, p.55 Hellwig 1964, pp.33–7 Galpin 1968, p.83, pl.XXXVI Turnbull 1974, pp.21–2, 142, pl.24e & 28c Evans 1977, p.39 & ill. Montagu 1979, p.115 & ill. Guitares 1980, pp.102–3 & ill. p.101 Hellwig 1980, pp.167–8, 338 & ill. pp.83–4, 167–8 Wells 1984, p.14 & ill (front cover) Weimarer Klassik 1999, p.71 & ill. Freeth and Alexander 2002, ill. p.25 Topham 2003, p.138
Guitar, Joachim Tielke, RCM 16: detail of inscription
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Guitar, Joachim Tielke, RCM 16
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RCM 167 Guitar Colin, Paris, third quarter of 18th century
References Galpin 1968, p.83, pl.XXXVI Evans 1977, p.39 & ill. Montagu 1979, p.115 & ill. Wells 1984, p.14
Inscriptions Brand at top of back: COLIN A PARIS Brief description Five-course 18th-century guitar converted to six strings Dimensions : 897 : 425 : upper bouts 197, middle bouts 157, lower bouts 260 : 81.5 : 612 Description Front two-piece of medium to fine grain: later tie-bridge of modern form; moustaches and a central pendant ornament from an earlier bridge. Edging of ivory lines, a chequered band of tortoiseshell and mother-of-pearl, and purfling, with similar collar to soundhole. The rose, of cast or repoussé gilded metal, has a circular trophy of instruments: horns, viols, citterns and oboes with garlands. A central laurel band encloses diamond-shapes, and the whole is slightly domed and set in an ivory ring; around this is a crude ring of red sealing-wax, c.7.5mm wide. Soundhole diameter: 75mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 280.5mm. Ribs and back of figured maple; dart-shaped piece of ?pearwood in joint of ribs at tail. Centre of back and ribs striped, with one wide and two narrow strips of ?pearwood, each strip edged with a line of ebony. Very small tailpin of bone. Ebonised neck with a line of purfling from heel to end of peghead; the front of peghead and sides of fingerboard have two lines of edge-banding. Four plugged pegholes filled with mother-of-pearl discs; six later pegs. Convex fingerboard with metal frets; five frets on front. Width of fingerboard: at joint 50.8mm, at nut 37.6mm. Commentary The peghead/neck joint has been reworked and the neck may have been shortened. There have been at least three successive bridges; there are remnants of an earlier, lower, bridge between the moustaches. The rose appears to be English and is probably a replacement. Possibly by Jean or Nicolas Collin (Colin), who worked in Mirecourt in the mid-18th century and branded their work as from Paris. A violin dated 1723 (E980.2.422) and a quinton c.1750 (E980.2.465) by Jean Colin are in the Musée de la Musique, Paris (Gétreau 1966b, pp.736–7). In appearance RCM 167 resembles a guitar dated 1772 by Jean-Charles Le Jeune, Paris, in the Musée de la Musique, Paris, E 963.1.1 (see Guitares 1980, ill. p.304, 311), so RCM 167 may be by Jean-François or Louis Colin, who were active in the last third of the century. Provenance Unknown; given before 1952
120
Guitar, Colin, RCM 167
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RCM 173 Guitar Josef Pagés, Cadiz, 1809 Inscriptions Printed label: JOSEF PAGES, / Me hizo en Cadiz / ano de 1809. / Calle de la Armargura Brief description Early 19th-century Spanish guitar, now with six single strings Dimensions : 951 : 458 : upper bouts 212½, middle bouts 171, lower bouts 282 : at neck joint 89, at tail 84 : 634 Description Front two-piece, of fine grain with plain dark wood edging; soundhole collar of mother-of-pearl in mastic, encircled with purfling, and a separated outer line of double purfling. Soundhole diameter: 82mm; centre of soundhole from tail: 313mm. Two transverse bars, two vertical, one on each side of soundhole, and five fan bars. Later pin-bridge. Rosewood ribs and one piece back; dart of vertically-grained wood in joint of ribs at tail. Mahogany neck with pointed heel. Simple shield-shaped mahogany tuning-head (see Commentary), the front face veneered with rosewood, with tapered dart-joint to neck; later machine-tuners with tapered bone barrels and ivory heads decorated with holes and notches. Nut of ivory; rosewood fingerboard reaching to the edge of the soundhole; seventeen frets with the joint at the octave fret; width of fingerboard: at joint 59mm, at nut 48.2mm. Commentary This guitar would originally have had six double courses (the six course instrument remained popular in Spain until c.1830). Two openings were cut in the peghead when it was adapted as a tuning head for six single strings. The mounts for the machine-tuners do not fit the sides of the tuning head well; the tapered barrels of the present machines may have been formed from the original bone pegs. The very thin fingerboard appears to have been reworked. Josef (José) Pagés (1762–before 1830) was one of three Cadiz guitar makers who developed fan barring in the late 18th and early 19th century. Provenance Gift of Miss M E Marsham, October 1928 References Turnbull 1974, p.68, 144, pl.38 Grove 1980, ill. v.7 p.829 Grove 1984, v.2 p.90 & ill. p.91 Wells 1984, p.14 Grove 2001, ill. v.10 p.55
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RCM 170 Guitar ?English, c.1835 Inscriptions None Brief description Nineteenth-century guitar with six strings Dimensions : 954, without tail-button 942 : 453½ : upper bouts 229, middle bouts 180½, lower bouts 296 : at neck joint 72, at tail 80 : 631 Description Front two-piece, of fine to medium grain at edges; purfling and banding of rosewood and ?boxwood at edges of front and back; also on ribs. Soundhole collar of mother-of-pearl diamond-shapes in mastic. Pin-bridge of rosewood of symmetrical section and without saddle; mother-of-pearl dart-shaped moustaches tipped with ebony discs inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Ribs and onepiece back of rosewood; dart and purfling at rib joint on tailblock. Neck of plain mahogany with rosewood fingerboard. The neck and neck-block are separate; nineteen frets with joint at twelfth. Mother-of-pearl discs as markers at fifth, seventh and ninth frets on bass edge of neck. Simple shield-shaped tuning-head of mahogany with front face veneered in rosewood. Machine tuners with elaborately shaped and pierced ivory heads; brass plates and ivory barrels. Fingerboard widths: at joint 59.5mm, at nut 46mm; soundhole diameter: 82mm; centre from tail: 302mm; length of fingerboard to joint: 316mm. Commentary Modelled on the Pagés design by an English maker; it does not appear to be by one of the Panormos. Provenance Uncertain, given before 1953; possibly the guitar given by John and Edith Hipkins, 1911, and formerly owned by Edward Schultz, then A J Hipkins, who illustrated it in his article, Guitar, in Grove I. Reference Grove 1878–90, v.1, p.640 & ill.
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RCM 172 Guitar Joseph Gerard, London, c.1840 Inscriptions Printed label: J h GERARD, / (FROM PARIS) / Manufacturer of Guitars, Violins, Tenors, / VIOLONCELLOS, BOWS, AND ORGANS, / 50 King Street, Soho Square / LONDON, / N.B. Instruments Repair’d Above this text, on LH side: DEPOT OF STRINGS FROM NAPLES. In the centre, a trophy of instruments; and on RH side: AN ASSORTMENT OF INSTRUMENTS FROM PARIS Machine plates stamped V R [enclosing crown] and: J.GERARD / 50 KING ST. Handwritten (?c.1943) on fingerboard: 172 J. GÉRARD 1830 Made for the Queen of SPAIN Brief description Mid 19th-century guitar with six strings Dimensions : 955, without tail-button 947 : 437 : upper bouts 251, middle bouts 184, lower bouts 319 : at neck joint 81, at tail 77.7 : 623½ Description Front two-piece, of medium grain varnished pale gold. Multiple purfling (five white lines) and ivory edging. Soundhole collar a broad garland of mother-of-pearl foliage set in black mastic, contained within single ebony lines. Soundhole diameter: 77.6mm; centre of rose from tail: 274.8mm. Pin-bridge with ivory insert and five pins studded with mother-of-pearl; behind bridge, ornamental plate inlaid and engraved. Ribs and back of zebrawood veneer on a coniferous substrate. Back and ribs doublepurfled behind ivory edging; the zebrawood bookmatched on back. Ebony tailpin, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and inserted into a dart-shaped ivory inlay between ends of ribs at tail. Back and heel of neck and back of tuning-head veneered in ivory, with an ebony button; ebony line at junction of heel with neck, and of neck with tuning-head. Ebony fingerboard and seventeen frets, the octave fret at the joint. The fifth, seventh and ninth frets have motherof-pearl markers on the bass side of the neck. Width of fingerboard: at joint 58.9mm, at nut 46mm. Motherof-pearl nut scalloped between strings. Tuned with machines; palmette heads of mother-of-pearl. Front face of tuning-head veneered with mother-of-pearl, engraved with neo-classical ornament and an empty cartouche area at the top with scrolls each side. Provenance Donor unknown, given before 1952. According to the inscription on the fingerboard, the guitar was made for the Queen of Spain; if so presumably Isabella II (reigned 1843– 68) or her mother, Maria Christina (Regent 1833–41). References Wells 1984, p.14 Getreau 1988, p.193 Button 1989, p.269 & ill. pl.41
Guitar, Joseph Gerard, RCM 172 123
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RCM 487 Guitar J H Zimmermann, German, c.1905 Inscriptions Printed label, the first and last lines added, printed in blue ink; the remainder in sepia ink: N o 1082 / JUL. HENR. / ZIMMERMANN / LEIPZIG-BERLIN / MARKNEUKIRCHEN / RIGA Handwritten at top left of label: 080531 Stamped across the dart of the neck/tuning-head joint: MADE IN GERMANY Brief description Early 20th-century guitar with seven strings Dimensions : 897 : 419 : upper bouts 252, middle bouts 197, lower bouts 326½ : at neck joint 65, at tail 69, at deepest point 78 : 87 : 583 Description Two-piece front of wide to medium grain. Purfling and edging of black and white lines and reddish wood. Soundhole with bevelled edges and collar of black and white lines enclosing band of inlaid mahogany. Soundhole diameter: 75mm. Ebonised pin-bridge with saddle of fret wire and pins of ivory with mother-of-pearl inserts. Straight narrow moustaches with small points. Ribs and one-piece back of a pale and striped African ‘mahogany’. Back slightly vaulted in both directions; one line of black and white edging on back. Both front and back have three transverse bars. Neck and tuning-head of mahogany with ebony button on heel of neck. Neck is loose and set in a square housing; it is fastened with an exposed squareheaded bolt through heel and beech top-block so that neck is removable, and height of action is adjustable. Disc fret-markers at fifth, seventh, ninth and twelfth frets. Deeply-notched nut with a fret-wire bearing just in front of it. Fingerboard of ebony on an ebonised underlayer, standing clear of the front. Machines with white synthetic oblong heads. Fingerboard width: at nut 45mm, at joint 56mm. Brass capo tasto. Commentary Julius Heinrich Zimmermann (1851–1922) also opened a workshop for stringed instruments in St Petersburg in 1890 (Droysen-Reber, 1999, p.301). Provenance Gift of Mrs S N R Nissen, 1987 References None located Guitar, J H Zimmermann, RCM 487
124
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RCM 130 Machete Portuguese, 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Machete, a small Portuguese guitar with five strings Dimensions : 502 : 224 : upper bouts 110, middle bouts 80, lower bouts 129 : at joint 34, at tail 31 : 334 Description Front one-piece, wide-grained, stained, with two transverse bars; soundhole with collar of mother-of-pearl diamond shapes in mastic, between single lines; five lines as purfling/edging. Pin-bridge of rosewood tipped with mother-of-pearl pins. Ribs and one-piece back of pale ?rosewood; back arched on two transverse bars. Neckblock, neck and peghead from one piece of wood, the neck and peghead ebonised. The fingerboard, a rosewood veneer, is flush with the front which runs onto the neck, ending in a dart shape at the tenth fret; the front of the peghead also has rosewood veneer. Bone nut and slotted ebony pegs with mother-of-pearl inlays; hole for missing tailpin. Soundhole diameter: 44mm; centre from tail: 146mm. Commentary Possibly Madeiran (for information on the Portuguese colonial machete, see King 2005, pp.83–8). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVII Baines 1966, p.47 & ill.
Machete, Portuguese, RCM 130 125
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RCM 20 Chitarra Battente ?Italian, ?18th century
bouts, are four holes each side, diameter c.5mm. Ebony saddle at tail; four hitchpins, one with scrap of twisted string of brass wire, on rib at tail.
Inscriptions None
Commentary There are signs that a bridge was formerly glued on. The bend in the front, the hitching of metal strings at the tail, and the length of the neck may be modifications. RCM 20 might formerly have been a flat-fronted guitar with strings hitched to the bridge rather than a metal-strung chitarra battente. If so the modifications would date from the same time as the incised decoration.
Brief description Chitarra battente, a guitar variant with deep body, angled front, short neck and metal strings fastened at the tail. Dimensions : 883, without tail button 868 : 480 : upper bouts 244, middle bouts 210, lower bouts 276 : at neck joint 87.6, at middle bouts, deepest point, 128.7, at tail 88.5 : 160 : 513 Description Fourteen peg-holes and a ?later hole for a fifteenth. Front two-piece, with wide grain at edges, and fine grain at centre; stained, like the entire instrument, dark brown; no edging or purfling of any kind; bend 136mm from tail with marks of bridge on the apex. Entire front covered in incised decoration: bearded head in profile in oval between soundhole and bridge, horned head above soundhole, bold acanthus-like motif between bridge and tail, and scrolling foliage and birds down each side. Soundhole with bevelled edge and a collar of fourteen simple leaf-shapes of mother-of-pearl set in black mastic, bordered with two white lines; relics of card from missing rose under soundhole rim. Soundhole diameter: 89.2mm; centre from tail: 331.6mm. Three frets on front. Ribs and back of quartered beech; ribs jointed from two pieces to give necessary depth at middle bouts. Vaulted back of eleven staves is pegged and glued to ribs; there are remnants of paper reinforcement on joints inside. Further incised decoration on ribs and back: at top of back, a crown double-plumed with feathers, centre of back, a lion passant above a tree framed by three circles, and on the lower part of the back, a bearded face with plumed conical hat. On the ribs, bass side, a male fiddler and on the treble side a female guitar player, both surrounded by foliage. Neck and peghead are of beech; heel of neck incised to resemble the head of a ?horse, with further abstract incised decoration on back of neck. The back and front of the peghead are decorated with incised foliage. There are lines across the back of the neck in arbitrary positions to suggest tied frets, and signs of three different fretting systems. The most recent had seven frets in saw cuts of which three are missing; the sawcuts of the other two systems have been filled. Width of fingerboard: at joint 55.9mm, at nut 47.9mm. Seven peg-holes on each side and one added, in the centre, near the top; nut missing. Pegs later, of simplified violin form; ten missing. On the bass side of the heel of the neck is a turned knob with a short leather strap and tassel. Near the top edge of the ribs, next to the front in the region of the middle 126
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XI
Chitarra battente ?Italian, RCM 20
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RCM 23 Guitar-Cittern Sveno Beckman, Stockholm, 1757 Inscriptions Printed label SVENO BECKMAN / I Stockholm, Anno 1757 [last two digits handwritten] Brief description Guitar-cittern hybrid, wire-strung, with four single courses and four double Dimensions : 882, without tail button 874 : 399 : upper bouts 195, middle bouts 166, lower bouts 235 : at tail 84, at joint 75 : 492 as found (twice distance to octave fret 496) Description Guitar-shaped body with violin-style vaulted back and overlapping edges to both front and back. Front finegrained, book-matched, with black edging; rose in soundhole cut from wood of front; a sunburst with eight rays, with entwined wreath of foliage and a smaller sunburst of five rays at centre; collar of a single line of purfling, and a scalloped leather border to edge of soundhole. Bridge resembles a low and wide violin bridge; ivory saddle at tail and seven hitchpins in tailblock. Maple ribs of slight curl. One-piece maple back with no purfling; the button carved as a rocaille-style scallop shell. Plain maple neck with cittern-style spine on treble side and shallow flat section on bass side. Fingerboard slightly arched and veneered in tortoiseshell; twelve metal frets. Gracefully drawn and carved pegbox with a crested female head contained within the volutes of a scroll; sides and back of pegbox carved in low relief rocaille: shield, husks and garlands; twelve ebony pegs, five original. Buttons for neck-ribbon on back of finial and at tailblock. Fingerboard length: 303mm; width: at nut 49.5mm, at end 57mm; diameter of soundhole opening: 69mm. Neck spine depth: at block 21mm, a nut 16mm; width: at block 26.5mm, at nut 25mm. Commentary The bridge has been raised; it was formerly 18.5mm high and is now 26.5mm. Sveno (Sven) Beckman (fl.1741–61) made lutes, guitars and bowed string instruments, supplying them to the Swedish court from 1756. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XI
Guitar-Cittern, Sveno Beckman, RCM 23 127
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RCM 134 Lyre Guitar François Roudhlof and Nicolas Mauchand, Paris, early 19th century Inscriptions Two brands on inside of back below bass-side soundhole: F ROUDHLOFF / MAUCHAND Brief description Guitar in lyre-form with six strings Dimensions : 791 : 399 : across body 325, across tips of horns 420 : at tail 83.5, at neck joint 43.5, at top of horns 10 : 593 Description Front unvarnished, two-piece, book-matched, of fine to medium grain, with two soundholes of swastika form, clockwise and anti-clockwise. Wide herringbone banding of ebony and tortoise-shell, also ebony and ivory lines, on edges of front. Pin-bridge with metal insert and crescent moustaches ending in disc finials inlaid with mother-ofpearl. Book-matched back and ribs of satinwood, on a coniferous substrate. The back is arched transversely and the lower end flares out into a pedestal with ebony lines at base. The guitar neck rises between the horns of the lyre and is linked to them with an ebonised wooden yoke. The yoke has turned ebony finials with mother-of-pearl inlays. Neck and peghead ebonised. Mother-of-pearl inlays on faces and tips of pegs; ormolu finials to horns of lyre in the form of eagle’s heads. Width of fingerboard: at joint 57mm, at nut 47mm; rectangular base: 92 × 47mm. Commentary A drawing room instrument of the neo-classical period. François Roudhlof (1781–1849) worked in association with Nicolas Mauchand, his brother-in-law, in Paris, making violins, cellos and guitars. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVIII Remnant 1978, p.42 Wells 1984, p.14 Remnant 1989, ill. p.46
128
Lyre Guitar, Roudhlof & Mauchand, RCM 134
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RCM 166 Harp-Guitar [Edward Light], London, c.1800 Inscriptions None Brief description Harp-guitar, a lute-guitar hybrid with seven gut strings Dimensions : 832 : 417 : 325 : 138 : 474 Description Body of simplified lute-form with straight sides and curved tail. Coniferous front arched transversely. Soundhole with gilded oakleaf and acorn collar; inserted sunburst rose of wood and gesso gilded with central mask. Front outlined with scrolling neoclassical bands and anthemion ornament both sides of bridge. Back of flattened semicircular section with flat central stave between segmental side pieces; harp-style openings in central stave. All ebonised; back outlined in ‘panels’ with gold lines. Turned ivory tailpin. Pin-bridge with saddle. Neck and top-block in one piece but laminated horizontally from two layers; ivory frets. Tuning pins with square gilt heads, without shoulders, set out in V pattern below another sunburst Apollo head of gilded composition and gesso. Individual pillar nuts of ivory drilled, which press the string down between the tuning pin and the conventional nut. Commentary Invented in 1798 by Edward Light, and succeeded by his harp-lute-guitar, c.1800, harp-lute, c.1810–13, British lute-harp, 1816 (see RCM 284), and dital harp, 1819; the construction of the instruments was undertaken by professional craftsmen such as A Barry. Edward Light (c.1747 to c.1832), musician, teacher and composer, organist of St George’s, Hanover Square and ‘Lyrist to HRH the Princess of Wales’. For a time he was in partnership with Angelo Benedetto Ventura, who later produced instruments in competition with Light, culminating in the Harp Ventura. These instruments were designed for use by amateurs, succeeding the English guitar, and eventually gave place to the Spanish guitar and piano (see Grove 2001, v.14 p.696). Provenance Gift of Queen Mary, 1929 References Remnant 1978, p.42 Wells 1984, p.14
Harp-guitar, English, RCM 166
129
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RCM 284 British Lute-Harp Edward Light, London, c.1816 Inscriptions Between soundhole and top of front in gilded lettering: Light / Foley Place / London Between bridge and tail, below the royal arms in gilded lettering: Patent No 17 Brief description British lute-harp with eighteen strings Dimensions : 860 , : 392 : 338 : 220 : 138 : longest 640, shortest 226 Description Body of simplified straight-sided lute form. Soundboard of coniferous wood, the rest of the instrument of mahogany and beech, the whole ebonised. Soundhole with border of gilded vine leaves, and the edges of the front bordered with bands of chinoiserie ornament, gilded, between gilded lines. Front slightly arched transversely; pin-bridge with saddle; bridge glued and screwed to counter-piece under front. Gilded ornament of tambourine and foliage at top end of body. Back of seven staves; wide central stave has two rectangular openings, harp-style. Each stave outlined in gilding, and the whole bordered with a band of vineleaf ornament. Tail end formed of a single curved stave, standing on an oval pedestal, of ?limewood, with plinth moulding of gilded composition and gesso. Inside, the stave joints are reinforced with thick canvas strips; the interior is stained black. The harp-like pillar, ‘harp’ neck and ‘lute’ neck stand on a wide upper block; pillar on bass side fluted, with gilded eagle finial. Posterior brass tuning pins with square heads, and traces of gilding; sixteen pins on ‘harp’ neck and two on ‘lute’ neck. Possibly original gut strings, with red gut for Cs. All eighteen strings can be raised a semitone, nine while playing by using the ditals or thumb keys on the back of the ‘harp’ neck. From the bass: four strings pass through rotatable rings which can be turned to raise the pitch a semitone. The next string’s dital is operated by a wire rod and thumb-piece which is pulled downwards. This dital is marked B. The next eight strings have push-button ditals labelled C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The remaining five strings, without ditals, have a notched nut/fret arrangement so that the string can be hitched up a semitone, or simply raised a semitone in play in the normal way. Strings six to sixteen have drilled pillar-form individual nuts and the push-button mechanism pulls the string down between nut and individual ivory frets; the principle is similar to the crotchet system of a single-action harp, the dital mechanism using a drilled rod to pull the string down. The two levers and spring for each dital are housed in the 130
hollowed back of the ‘harp’ neck. The top string has eight frets for normal lute/guitar style play. Commentary The dital mechanism is shown in Fig. 2 of the Patent (No 4041, AD 1816, June 18, Certain Improvements on the Instrument known by the Name of the Harp Lute, which I denominate the ‘British Lute Harp’. Edward Light, of Foley Place, in the Parish of Saint Mary-le-bone, in the County of Middlesex, Professor of Musick). ‘Patent No 17’ on the instrument may refer to Light’s own patents. RCM 284 is a little more elaborate than the instrument depicted in the patent, which has only fifteen strings, but the mechanism and number of ditals are the same. The Patent shows the strings tuned in E♭. Light published A New and Complete Directory to the Art of Playing on the Patent British Lute-Harp c.1816. The Museum also holds a copy of his tutor for the variant which he invented in 1819, the dital harp. The tutor, published the same year, was a revised edition of the previous Directory, with additional music, and with the same engraving, re-titled, as frontispiece (see illustrations); later editions omitted the frontispiece, date and list of music. The British lute-harp, later known as dital harp, was more successful than the heavier 1819 instrument of that name, and was considered to be a good alternative to the harp for accompaniment. See also RCM 166. Provenance Donor unknown, given before 1952 References Remnant 1978, p.42
British lute-harp, London, RCM 284: Fig. 2 from Light’s Patent of 1816
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British lute-harp, London, RCM 284
Edward Light, A New and Complete Directory to the Art of Playing on the Patent Dital Harp (London, 1819): frontispiece [above] and title page [below] RCM Museum of Instruments 131
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RCM 126 Harp-Lute G Packer, Bath, after 1816 Inscriptions Gilded lettering: G.PACKER / Maker / Bath Stamped very faintly below three highest tuning pins: J.HOYLAND / SHEFFIELD Brief description Harp-lute with ten ‘harp’ strings and six ‘lute’ strings Dimensions : 862 : 426 WIDTH: 358 : 144 : longest ‘harp’ 686, shortest ‘harp’ 569; fretted strings: on long fingerboard 469, on short fingerboard 259
Commentary The instrument as a whole is a simplification of Light’s patent British lute-harp of 1816, using a more easily constructed version of the dital mechanism. The position of the red C string indicates the same stringing as Edward Light’s instruments tuned in E♭. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885 Cat., p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXVI Armstrong 1908, p.136 Wells 1984, p.14
Description Body of simplified lute-form without pedestal; sixteen strings. Simulated rosewood and gilt finish on whole instrument. Coniferous front with slight transverse arching; wide Grecian acanthus scrolling border; painted false soundhole with rose of eight-pointed sunburst in vine-leaf border; trophy of instruments between soundhole and bridge. Rest of instrument probably beech. Back of flattened semicircular transverse section; two rectangular ‘harp’ soundholes in central back stave. Pin-bridge with saddle; bridge is screwed and glued to counterpart under front. Fluted column on bass side with miniature Grecian harp capital, gilded; composition, gesso and gold leaf. Acanthus and rosettes below. Relic of endpin in hole at tail. Simple spring-returned dital thumb-keys on neck lift the strings so that they are stopped against individual brass stirrup-form nuts above the string. To shorten the string-length there are also some rotating rings which cannot be adjusted while playing. Those marked as ring and dital have a plate across the ring so that they also act as nuts for the dital mechanisms. ‘Harp’ strings from bass with details of tuning rings and ditals: 1
ring and missing dital key mechanism
2&3
ring and dital key
4&5
ring only
6
ring and dital key (red gut)
7
dital key only
8
missing dital key
9
ring and dital key
10
dital key
‘Lute’ strings run over two fretted fingerboards; nos. 11, 12, and 13, on longer board with nine frets, and the three highest over a fingerboard with seven frets. Nut on longer fingerboard is a wooden replacement. Square-headed brass tuning pins; all mechanism of brass. For the ‘harp’ strings there are pillar-type individual nuts, each with a turned groove near top to locate string. 132
Harp-lute, G Packer, RCM 126
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V V ’A B H F
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RCM 184 Treble Viol ?English, c.1600 Inscriptions Restorer’s label, printed, on soundpost plate: Nathaniel Cross Brief description Viol with violin outline, c.1600, converted to viola by Nathaniel Cross; modified later Dimensions : 690½, without tail-button 677½ : 424 : upper bouts 195, middle bouts 135, lower bouts 243 : at neck joint 46, at middle bouts 68, at tail 37 : to fold in back c.355, to later fold c.95 : 373 (current; there are marks of earlier bridge positions) Description Outline has very long points at the corners, where the ribs are pinched together without mitres. Front, two-piece, carved, of fine to medium grain; C-shaped soundholes, shallow arching and golden-brown varnish. Ribs of ?plum. Striped back of five strips, the centre and outer pieces of bird’s-eye maple, the other two of ?plum. Elegant double purfling on front and back with elongated points and a small dart at the button; purfling colours reversed on dark strips of back. Front and back are flush with the ribs; there are no reinforcements of these joints and no corner blocks. Upper, original, fold in back has no reinforcement inside; the only linings are of fabric and not continuous. When the instrument was converted to viola, the lower end of the back was angled to reduce the depth at the tail; an extra strip, 6mm wide with purfling each side, was inserted across the back at the break to make up the length required. Neck and pegbox of plain maple, c.1740 or later; neck angle ?early 19th century. Plugged hole at tailblock, indicating former tailbutton rather than hookbar. Extra layers of wood were added later to front and back on the bass side, to form an integral rest for the player’s chin and shoulder. Commentary Although much altered, this seems to be one of the earliest surviving English viols. It is almost identical to a treble viol in the Musikhistorisk Museum, Copenhagen, which also bears a label of Nathaniel Cross and had its back and ribs altered in the same manner, perhaps when an entire chest of viols was modified (Hebbert 2003). RCM 184 also resembles a viol, c.1600, labelled William Bowcleffe, ex-W E Hill Collection, formerly loaned to the Shakespeare birthplace, Stratford-on-Avon, now owned by the Orpheon Foundation (Vásquez, p.11 & ill.). There is extensive iconography for this form, for example in paintings such as Breughel’s Allegory and the sense of Hearing, 1618 (Michael Heale, unpublished paper, 2000), and publications such as The Division-Violist by Christopher Simpson, 1659. 134
The two sides of the front are from different sources. A dendrochronological examination gave 1516 as the date of the youngest ring on the bass side (and showed matching sequences to those on a 1592 Amati viola); no significant match for the treble side was found in existing chronologies (Topham 2003). Nathaniel Cross (1686–1751) worked initially as apprentice, then partner, to Barak Norman, setting up his own workshop after Norman’s death in 1724 (see Milnes 2000, pp.28–9, 154–5). Provenance Gift of the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, 1895. The Gift Book records his donation of a ‘Tenor Violin said to have belonged to Handel’. An entry in South Kensington 1872, p.13, no.151, makes it possible to identify RCM 184 as the instrument: Viola. Date unknown. Peculiar shape; deep in the ribs; back inlaid in stripes. Obtained in New Zealand. Said to have belonged to Handel. Lent by H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh [i.e. Alfred Ernest Albert (1844–1900), second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, who succeeded his uncle as reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha in 1893]. Two years later Engel added (South Kensington 1874, p.364): … considering … that in European countries no stone has been left unturned in ransacking for valuable old fiddles, it may possibly be that there is a better chance of hunting for them successfully in New Zealand than at home. There is no supporting evidence that the instrument belonged to Handel. References South Kensington 1872, p.13 South Kensington 1874, p.364 Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 5’ Topham 2003, p.137 Hebbert 2003, pp.69–75 & ill. p.197
Treble viol, English, RCM 184: detail of purfling on back
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Treble viol, English, RCM 184; see also colour plate, p.11
Treble viol, English, RCM 184: lower end of body (see Description) 135
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RCM 206 Bass Viol Attributed to Edward Lewis, London, c.1690 Inscriptions None Brief description Bass viol converted to cello Dimensions : 1125, without tail button 1102 : 660 : upper bouts 324, middle bouts 239, lower bouts 387 : 114 : 543 : 620 Description Two-piece front of fine to medium grain widening towards edges; C-shaped soundholes very near the edges of middle bouts; moderate arching; fine double purfling; ornament, above bridge, of heart with twining foliage in purfling filled in with burnt crosshatching (point d’aiguille) (one segment incomplete; hatched only in one direction). Back in three pieces of maple with figure of strong curl; outer strips book-matched. The joints run along the centre of strips carved in shallow relief, 11mm wide, of running leaf and trefoil flower ornament. Another patch of carving in low relief at button. Outside line of purfling runs around outside edge of back; inner line separates the back into panels and in the centre portion breaks into a knot decoration of three chequered diaper areas linked by simpler interlacings. Linings are a mixture of strips and blocks; bars across back in upper and lower bouts; nonoriginal reinforcement of fold in back. Ribs had no corner blocks originally; strip of inlay in ribs where hookbar has been removed. Heel of neck and button originally angular, as outlined by purfling, but later rounded. Commentary There is an addition to the front at the neck joint, without purfling, dating from the fitting of the narrower cello neck. The old neck would have been 67mm wide at the level of the front. The ribs of the upper bouts may have been renewed at the same time. The attribution is based on close similarities to surviving viols signed by Edward Lewis (in Musée de la Musique, Paris, 1687, Musée des Instruments de Musique, Brussels, and private ownership). Edward Lewis (fl. c.1687–c.1742) worked at the ‘Harp’, next door to Barak Norman (see RCM 46), building viols, violins, violas and cellos (see Grove 2001, 14, p.618). Provenance Given by Sir George Donaldson between 1900 and 1925; A H Frere (1926) lists a viol converted to cello with low relief carving on the back as Donaldson Collection. References Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 3’ Wells 1984, p.11
136
Bass viol, attr. Edward Lewis, RCM 206
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Bass viol, attr. Edward Lewis, RCM 206: back of body 137
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RCM 46 Division Viol Barak Norman, London, 1692 Inscriptions Handwritten label: Barak Norman / At the bass Viol / in s t pauls Ally. / London Fecit / 1692 Brief description Late 17th-century division viol Dimensions : 1181, without tailpiece and hookbar 1151 : 632 : upper bouts 287, middle bouts 213, lower bouts 346 : at neck joint 69, at tail 112 : 513 : 659 (current; there are traces of other bridge positions) Description Front constructed of three bent staves of medium to wide grain; central stave 65.9mm wide at the bridge; C-shaped soundholes; double purfling; above bridge a foliate ornament of purfling and burnt cross-hatching (point d’aiguille). Ribs of maple; hookbar of stained ?maple. Back two-piece, book-matched, of maple with faint bird’s eye figure, with double purfling. The outer line is continuous, with dart ornament at tail and button; the inner line forms two panels, the lower back section having floral/knot designs at top and bottom. There is a quatrefoil knot ornament of purfling in the centre of the back. Original soundpost plate. Bar under fold and bar running along centre join were added in the 1960s. Original neck of maple with figure of fine curl; pegbox with open scroll; later rosewood pegs. Original marquetry decoration on replacement fingerboard and original tailpiece: foliage and birds in various woods (?walnut and ?plum in a ?holly ground). Later veneer of stained pear at lower end of tailpiece. Wedge under fingerboard is of two layers, the upper one added in the 1960s to correct a twist in the neck (see Commentary); ebony veneer at edges of fingerboard added at the same time. Commentary A fine example, with original neck and pegbox, of the work of Barak Norman (1651–1724), one of the last of the English viol-makers; he also built violins, violas and cellos, the latter being especially prized for their tone. In the 1690s he worked near St Paul’s Cathedral at the ‘Bass Viol’, next door to the ‘Harp’, the premises of Edward Lewis (see RCM 206); from 1713 he was in partnership with Nathaniel Cross (see RCM 184). Many of his viols survive elsewhere (Hebbert 2001, pp.285–329), including a very similar division viol now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Libin 1991, p.52). The three staves of the front of RCM 46 match closely: a dendrochronological analysis showed the date of the latest ring on the bass stave as 1677, centre stave 1678 and treble stave 1679 (Topham 2003). The front and ribs are very thin and the whole instrument is fragile due to woodworm damage. It was restored for the College by Dietrich 138
Kessler in the 1960s before the present Museum was founded; to correct warping an additional wedge was added to the neck, a new fingerboard made and the original marquetry re-applied; cracks in the front, back and ribs were repaired, bars added and a new bass-bar, soundpost and bridge fitted. The RCM Library holds a copy of The Division-Violist by Christopher Simpson, 1659, which contains additional manuscript ‘Rules for Gracing’. It is interesting that Simpson recommends the use of an instrument with a string-length of 30 inches, considerably longer than that of RCM 46 (currently c.26 inches) and of other surviving ‘division viols’ (see Fleming 2003, pp.18–22, 27–30).
The Division-Violist, from Christopher Simpson, The Division Violist (London: John Playford, 1659) RCM Library (Gb-Lcm C41/1)
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Technical drawing by Stephen Barber, 1976, © RCM Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVIII Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Lütgendorff 1922, p.355 Remnant 1978, p.57 Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 2’ Grove 1980, ill. v.13, p.283 Grove 1984, v.2, p.774 & ill. p.775 Wells 1984, p.11–12 & ill. König 1985, pp.104–7 & ill. Remnant 1989, ill. p.51 Libin 1991, p.52 BBC, Early Music Special Issue 1994, p.18 & ill. Milnes 2000, p.19 Grove 2001, ill. v.18, p.46 Hebbert 2001, pp.291, 321, 323 & 327 Chrisp 2002: ill. p.39 Topham 2003, p.138
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Division viol, Barak Norman, RCM 46; see also colour plate, p.12
Division viol, Barak Norman, RCM 46: detail of head
Division viol, Barak Norman, RCM 46: detail of marquetry on tailpiece
Division viol, Barak Norman, RCM 46: detail of label
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RCM 44 Bass Viol Jeremias Würffel, Greifswald, 1710 Inscriptions Printed label on the inside of a hinged door in a rib of the lower bouts:‘Viol de Gamba;’/ Die erste auff diese Manier / Hat mich erdacht / Auch selbst gemacht / Ein Sechzig-Jähriger Mann / In / Greiffswald / JEREMIAS, Würffel / Stadt- und Universität bestallter Musicus Instrumental. / Anno 1710. Handwritten label on the inside of the back: Ein 60 jährig man / hat mich erdacht / hat selbst gemacht / Anno.1710 / in / Greiffswald / J. Würffel / Die erste auf diese / Mannier. [A 60year-old man invented and made me…. the first of this kind] Brief description Seven-stringed bass viol with narrow festoon outline and detachable neck which can be housed inside the body of the instrument Dimensions : 1202, without tailpiece & hookbar 1181 : 663 : upper bouts 250, middle bouts 168, lower bouts 300 : at neck joint 69, at tail 96 : 552 : 690 Description Front of fine to medium grain, moderately arched, with two-part scimitar-shaped flame soundholes; purfling and edge-banding with inlays at top and tail. The bridge is located between two small inlaid raised ledges. Pale golden varnish. Ribs of quartered plain walnut. Back twopiece, of book-matched walnut, with painted purfling; there is a line of inlay along centre line with decorative inlays at top and tail. The hookbar is carved and let in between two narrow chequered strips. A door is formed from a section of the ribs of the lower bouts, turning on hinges of folded and rivetted sheet brass and fastened with two hooks and eyes. The fingerboard is inlaid with chequered strips of walnut and ?plum; the tailpiece was made in the 1970s (as was the bridge) by Dietrich Kessler in similar style, replacing a non-original one. Detachable neck and pegbox are from one piece; the heel of the neck fits into a dovetail housing cut into the upper ?pearwood
Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, RCM 44: detail of label inside door in rib 140
block, and is retained by a round-headed screw which passes through the substantial button of the back. The pegbox has seven lateral pegs with the strings attached to them in small arched openings. On the sides of the heel of the neck is carving in low relief, the background fielded with punch work. Pegs have bone inserts and small spoon-shaped heads. To enable the neck and pegbox to be housed in the body, the pegbox finial is a diminutive carved head. There are cloth reinforcements inside the body as well as liners in discrete sections. These and the lower block show traces of red pigment. The soundpost is located in sockets glued to front and back, so that it can be easily put in position. Behind the dovetail housing the upper block has a keyhole-shaped opening to the interior; this may help to locate and hold the neck when it is inside the body. Thicknesses measured at the opening: back 3.23mm, front 3.25mm. Commentary Finely made with considerable ingenuity and perhaps the only viol existing with a detachable neck that can be housed in the instrument (though the trompette marine, RCM 289, can be disassembled). There is a similar treble viol by Würffel in the Ernst Collection, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, which also has raised ledges to locate the bridge. The printed label of RCM 44 shows that Würffel (died 1726) was born in 1650 and held positions in both the city and the University of Greifswald. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVIII Galpin 1928, p.880 Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 4’ Wells 1984, p.12 König 1985, pp.108–9 & ill. Lütgendorff 1990, p.694
Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, RCM 44: detail of neck join, showing screw through button
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Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, RCM 44: front, side, back (with door open); see also colour plates, p.12
Bass viol, Jeremias Würffel, RCM 44: detail of interior through opening in rib, showing manuscript label, soundpost and socket; also bridge-locating ledge 141
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RCM 149 Pardessus de Viole Louis Guersan, Paris, 1759 Inscriptions Printed label [within an oval cartouche of rocaille ornament with a dolphin on the LH side]: Ludovicus / GUERSAN / propè Comœdiam / Gallicam / Lutetiœ / Anno / 1759 [last two digits in ink] Brief description Five-stringed pardessus de viole, a descant viol Dimensions : 629, without tailpiece and hookbar 603 : 327 : upper bouts 160, middle bouts 112, lower bouts 196 : 49 : 272 : currently 315 (but see Commentary) Description Conventional viol outline with sloping shoulders and corners without points. Fine and very even-grained front with C-shaped soundholes and double purfling. Golden varnish. Back and ribs formed of strips of contrasting wood; back of five radiating pieces, two of flamed maple and three of a darker brown wood; ribs of two strips of maple and one of the darker wood. All these joints are strengthened with strips of calico-like cloth; back has double
purfling, the inner line forming a dart at the button. Neck and pegbox of unfigured maple; pegbox sides and back carved in relief with scrolling and interlaced foliage; background of carving fielded with many small gouge cuts. Front edges of pegbox decorated with herringbone pattern of gouge cuts; finial is a female head, with two dropearings and a crest of flowers. Pegs of ?rosewood; nut of ?bone. Fingerboard and tailpiece of ebony on ?maple underlayer; current bridge and frets fitted in 1971. Commentary The instrument shows little sign of wear. There are clear traces of earlier frets for a longer string length and faint traces of bridge feet at a position c.4.5mm nearer to the tail. For a discussion of the stringing and repertoire of the five- and six-stringed pardessus de viole and the quinton, see Herzog 2000, pp.8–31. Louis Guersan (1700–70) made instruments for the Dauphin and the Opéra; many of his viols and violins survive, including about thirty pardessus de viole and some quintons (see Lütgendorff 1990, pp.223–4). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XL Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 1’ Coates 1985, pp.52–4, 158 & 162, pl.VI
Pardessus de viole, Louis Guersan, RCM 149: details of head 142
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Pardessus de viole, Louis Guersan, RCM 149
143
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RCM 34 Viola d’Amore ?Bohemian, first half of 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Viola d’amore with festoon outline and with sloping upper back, converted to viola Dimensions : 678, without tailpiece 668 : 399 : upper bouts 195, middle bouts 122, lower bouts 256 : at neck joint 40, at tail 48.5 : 327 : c.381 (see Commentary) Description Front of fine to medium grain; highly arched with flameshaped soundholes; purfling on front only; opaque brown varnish with areas of craquelure. Ribs and one-piece flat back, with fold, of narrow curl. There are two bars across the back and a soundpost plate. Conventional viola neck except that the back of the pegbox is pierced with a simple entwined fret; the ?original finial, a winged cupid head without blindfold, was grafted onto the viola pegbox. Six plugged holes around tailpin for the hitchpins for sympathetic strings. Commentary There are marks of several bridge positions above and below the current one. The heel of the later neck is as wide as the old neck where jointed, but above the front narrows to viola width. The varnish resembles that of instruments by J U Eberle. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XVI
Viola d’amore, ?Bohemian, RCM 34
144
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RCM 35 Viola d’Amore Johann Ulrich Eberle, Prague, 1740 Inscriptions Printed label; Joan Udalricus Eberll / fecit Pragae 1740 [last two digits handwritten]
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVI Wells 1984, p.12
Brief description Viola d’amore with seven bowed strings and seven sympathetic strings; viol outline Dimensions : 767, without tailpiece 753 : 391 : upper bouts 190, middle bouts 128, lower bouts 242 : at neck joint 36.3, at fold in back 49, at middle bouts 54.6, at tail 50 : 326 : 362 or longer; there are traces of other bridge positions Description Front fine-grained, highly-arched, with flame-shaped soundholes; a small soundhole below end of fingerboard with inserted pierced rosette of bone or ivory. Tailpiece ?later; ornament missing. Ribs and two-piece flat back of bold curl with double purfling along centre joint. Double purfling throughout treated as an edge-banding; it also outlines the neck/body joint. Slightly opaque reddish varnish. Back is convex lengthways as well as having a fold and sloping towards the neck. Pegbox with finial of male head wearing crested helmet. Five of the present bowed strings are plain gut and two are wound. Of the sympathetic strings, three are plain wire and four are wound; they run from the upper pegs over a (?later) guide-wire bridging the pegbox, through an opening in the rear of the pegbox before passing over two guiding nuts of bone (the upper one missing). Going back up into the pegbox they pass over a true nut below the nut of the playing strings, under the fingerboard and through an opening in the bridge; at the tail they are hitched to two staggered rows of ball-headed iron hitchpins fixed through the ribs into the tailblock. Both the bearing surfaces of the bridge are topped with bone or ivory. Hookbar of tapered semicircular section; pegs of boxwood.
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 35
Commentary Johann Ulrich Eberle (1699–1768) was born in the Tyrol and moved to Prague where he continued his training under Thomas Edlinger; he is best-known for his violas d’amore, of which a large number survive. See also RCM 33.
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 35: bridge, probably original
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 35: details of side and back of pegbox 145
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RCM 33 Viola d’Amore (Englische Violet) Johann Ulrich Eberle, Prague, 1737 Inscriptions Printed label on soundpost plate: Joannes Udalricus Eberle, / Lauten-Macher in Prag, 1737. [last two digits handwritten] Brief description Englische Violet, a variant of the viola d’amore, with eight playing strings (later reduced to seven) and 24 sympathetic strings; viol outline. Dimensions : 790, without tailpiece 781 : 432 : upper bouts 201, middle bouts 134, lower bouts 247 : 59, at tail 53, at neck joint 41.6 : 38 and 362½ : c.385, sympathetic strings 392 (but marks of both bridge positions 11.2 nearer tail) Description Front two-piece, of fine to medium grain with fine grain at centre; highly arched with strong depression around the flame-shaped sound-holes. Below end of fingerboard a small inserted pierced rosette in a third soundhole outlined with an alternating bone/ebony collar. Purfling and black edging only on the front. Ribs and one-piece back of bird’s-eye maple. Pale golden varnish. Flat back has two folds so that ribs taper towards neck and tail; two transverse bars and a soundpost plate. Twenty-four tuning pins with watch-key heads set in recess in the tailblock in two sets, twelve each side of hookbar of ivory. The whole set was hidden behind a panel, now missing, formed of a section of rib which slid into dovetailed housings. The sympathetic strings leave the tuning pins and pass through a slot in the front with an ivory saddle and then to a separate bridge of bone or ivory beyond the main bridge. At the pegbox end there is a nut of bone or ivory below the main nut; the sympathetic strings are hitched to six ball-headed iron pins in the end wall of the pegbox next to the nuts, each pin holding four strings. The tailpiece has a sloping end, giving graduated overlengths to the playing strings. Tailpiece and pegbox are drilled for eight strings but the present nut is notched for only seven, and only seven boxwood pegs remain. The pegbox finial is a cupid’s head, winged and blindfolded, and the back of the pegbox is carved in low relief with strap-work, scrolls and leaves.
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 33: detail of label 146
Commentary The original length of both playing and sympathetic strings was probably slightly more than as presently set up. The edges of the neck are slightly proud of the ribs at the neck joint; it has probably been refitted to alter the angle. Eberle used the decorative bird’s eye maple for a number of his instruments. See also RCM 35. In his Violinschule, Leopold Mozart referred to the englische Violet as having seven bowed and fourteen sympathetic strings (Mozart 1756, p.4); an example by Schorn (1712) with this stringing is in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVI Colson 1935, ill. p.343 Baines 1966, p.21 & ill. Talbot 2002, p.382 & ill; p.392
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 33: detail of pegbox
Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 33: detail of tuning pins
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Viola d’amore, Johann Ulrich Eberle, RCM 33 147
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RCM 204 Baryton Magnus Feldlen, Vienna 1647 Inscriptions Handwritten label: [M]angnuß Feldlen Hof / lauten Und geigen / macher in Wien 1647. Brief description Baroque baryton with six bowed strings, nine plucked and sympathetic strings, and four sympathetic strings added later Dimensions : 1261 : 640 : upper bouts front 315, back 330, middle bouts front 231½, back 245, lower bouts 385 : at neck joint 67, at fold c.108, at lower bouts c.113 : 517 : 694 Description Simple festoon outline: sloping shoulders and upper corners without points. Tail incurved, with flat portion to accommodate obliquely placed hookbar. Front with small two-part flame-shaped soundholes and single purfling. Dark red/gold varnish. Middle and lower bouts in one length of rib; ribs at upper and middle bouts slope inwards towards front. Back of three strips of maple with figure of faint curl; upper section sloped; double purfling; inner line of purfling forms decorative dart at neck joint. Vertical strips of black-stained bobbin-turning at the neck joint on both sides The neck is broad, with two spines and heels, linked by a solid and recessed portion, at body end; butt joint to neck-block; ebony plates on the buttons. The open section of the neck is covered and strengthened by a flat board which also projects over the front. The bowed strings’ fingerboard is fixed on top of this with a recess underneath so that the gut frets can be tied; it is of maple inlaid with purfling in geometrical knotwork. The tailpiece, a conjectural reconstruction by J & A Beare, 1969, replacing a damaged non-original one, is decorated in similar style. One-piece neck and pegbox in maple with figure of faint curl. Pegbox has simple hook finial with flattened front face veneered with ebony; purfling on sides and back; bass side of pegbox has stepped thickening to receive the thin ends of pegs and thus reduce bending strain on long pegs. Pegs of black-stained ?plum, with shield-shaped heads and ivory finials. The nine original plucked and sympathetic strings are attached to wooden hitchpins on the front surface of the neck and then pass to the underside of the neck and a wooden nut. The four added sympathetic strings do the reverse; they are attached on the back surface of the neck to four bone hitchpins and come over to the front. A diagonally placed strip of beech is glued to the front and holds thirteen irregularly placed iron wrestpins, diameter 6mm, heads 5mm square, for the sympathetic strings. The bridge is asymmetrical with an extended dogleg on the bass side to clear the sympathetic strings.
148
Commentary Surprisingly there is no sign of any bridge to connect the sympathetic strings acoustically to the front; instead the wrestpins currently define the speaking length of the strings. The irregular spacing of the wrestpins arises because the later additional four strings were inserted between the pins for the longest five original strings. The beech strip holding the wrestpins does not match the rest of the instrument closely in workmanship or finish (a reddish dragon’s blood type stain), and there are signs of another pathway for the sympathetic strings near the hookbar. So the wrestpin strip may be a modification from another stage predating the four additional sympathetic strings. Although the baryton is known today chiefly for its association with Haydn and Prince Nicholas Esterhazy, this
Baryton, Magnus Feldlen, RCM 204; see also colour plate, p.13
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demanding instrument, in effect a combination of lyra viol and bandora, was in use from the mid 17th century until c.1800; the player would accompany his bowed line, or multiple lines, by plucking the sympathetic strings behind the neck with his left thumb. RCM 204 is the earliest surviving example: another baryton by Feldlen, dated 1656, survives in Vienna, on loan from the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Magnus Feldlen (Feldtle, Feldlin, c.1620–66) was born in Hohenschwangau, married the daughter of the lutemaker Thomas Epp in Vienna in 1645, and became court luthier (kaiserl. Hoflautenmacher), making violins, viols, barytons and lutes (Lütgendorff 1990, p.162).
References Galpin 1968, p.78 Remnant 1978, p.67 Gartrell 1983, p.5 & p.61, pl.1 Wells 1984, p.12 Remnant 1989, ill. p.70 Amour 1995, pp.144–5 & ill. Pamplin 2000, pp.226, 229 Gartrell 2003, pp.119, 123
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899 Baryton, Magnus Feldlen, RCM 204: detail of label
Baryton, Magnus Feldlen, RCM 204 149
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RCM 291 Hardingfele (Hardanger Fiddle) Attributed to Erik Johnsen Helland, Bø, c.1845 Inscriptions None Brief description Hardingfele, a fiddle of Western Norway originating in the Hardanger region, with four sympathetic strings Dimensions : 590, without tail-button 583 : 335 : upper bouts 144, middle bouts 103, lower bouts 183 : 29 : 276 (current; there are bridge marks 9.7 nearer to nut)
Attributed by Bjørn Aksdal to Erik Johnsen Helland (1816–68) of Bø in Telemark. Helland developed the modern form of Hardanger fiddle, c.1860; RCM 291 appears to have been made in his early period, probably in the 1840s (see Aksdal 2005). Provenance Acquired from the Musikhistoriska Museet (now the Musikmuseet), Stockholm, 1951, in exchange for a book harmonium, Paris, c.1880, Donaldson Collection, RCM 5 (now M2365). References Wells 1984, p.12
Description Front, one-piece, of fine-grained ?pine: very high arching with flattened transverse section between f-shaped soundholes; extreme depression at soundholes forming a step 11mm high at mid-point of soundholes; upper edges of soundholes bevelled; no notches. Back, two-piece, of ?birch, quartered at centre, slabcut at edges; very highly arched with flat transverse section at middle bouts and steeply down-curved edges. Elaborately painted purfling and edging on front and back; much floral and scrolling ornament on ribs, front and back, in paint and penwork; some flower centres in gold paint. Neck and pegbox of same wood as back; pegbox narrow, parallel-sided, having four pegs for playing strings with engraved bone platings. Nut for four sympathetic strings formed of dart-shaped piece of harder wood inserted in lower end of pegbox underneath nut for playingstrings; small decorative opening in fingerboard just below nut through which sympathetic strings can be seen. Stylised lion-head finial with bone teeth and separate protruding tongue; traces of gold paint; lion’s mane runs halfway down back of pegbox; lower half has painted floral ornament. Edges of pegbox have running herringbone ornament in penwork. Tailpiece and fingerboard veneered, on softwood, in geometrical patterns of bone, mother-of-pearl and whalebone, with engraving. Playing strings attached to tailpiece by intermediate brass wires with hooked ends; sympathetic strings fastened to two brass hooks attached to underside of tailpiece (one hook for two strings); tailpiece hitched to tailpin with brass wire. Bridge, maple, of plain form with simple opening for sympathetic strings; curve of top of bridge turns up slightly at ends. Commentary Half of the button is new: the neck has almost certainly been removed and replaced. The four pegs for sympathetic strings are of a different, simpler, pattern and are probably replacements. The instrument may have had a period of use as a conventional violin. The wedge under the fingerboard has a reverse taper, suggesting that the fingerboard has been lowered. 150
Hardingfele, RCM 291 attr. Erik Johnsen Helland
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L B
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RCM 52 Lira da Braccio ?English, first third of 19th century, labelled Joan Karlino Inscriptions Handwritten on inside of back: Joan Karlino / Brescia 1452 [spurious] Brief description Early 19th-century re-creation of a lira da braccio with seven strings, five on the fingerboard and two bourdons. Dimensions : 730 : 457 : upper bouts 217, middle bouts 157, lower bouts 267 : 37.7 : 371 Description Violin outline, with indentation at tail. Front one-piece, highly-arched, of medium grain; f-shaped soundholes very broad at notches; single purfling. Ribs and one-piece back with shallow arching, of maple with figure of medium curl; very small button at heel of neck. Neck and pegbox of one piece, not altered; neck angled back in modern style; the pegbox hollowed from the solid; seven frontal pegs of brown-stained box. Bridge similar to a modern viola bridge in height and piercing.
Commentary Possibly by one of the Panormo family (information from Charles Beare). Although accepted as an early lira da braccio for many years, it is one of the many imitations or forgeries of early models of bowed stringed instruments that were produced in England by makers such as the Panormos and Lotts. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894. Formerly owned by George Chanot and exhibited by him in 1872 (see South Kensington 1872, p.12, no. 133, ‘Viola’) References South Kensington 1872, p.12 Reade 1872 Vienna 1892, p.60 & ill. p.67, pl.XVI, no.11 Niederheitmann 1894, p.xi Donaldson 1896, pl.XX Van der Straeten 1914, p.647 Galpin 1928, p.880 Grove 1928, v.5 p.524 pl.LXXXVIII Grove 1948, v.3 p.207 pl.LXXXVIII Grove 1954, v.8 pl.67 Baines 1966, p.7 Galpin 1968, p.74 pl.XXIX Witten 1975, p.48 Coates 1985, p.55 Holman 1993, p.1 Scott-Jones 1995, pp.10, 14 & ill.
Lira da braccio, ?English, RCM 52 152
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V V C P R F
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RCM 31 Violin ?English, ?early 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Violin with carving in high relief on the back; later front and neck, c.1840 Dimensions : 613, without tail-button 602 : 359 : upper bouts 162.5, middle bouts 107.5, lower bouts 202 : 23.2 : 329
RCM 149). However the dolphin is a symbol with numerous other meanings, including that of saviour, religious or secular; in printed-paper decoration on Flemish harpsichords and on other instruments and title pages the musician Arion being rescued by a dolphin is often depicted. An eagle with a serpent in its talons symbolised the triumph of good over evil. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XIV Wells 1984, p.11
Description Later front, two-piece, of fine and even grain; f-shaped soundholes; purflings mostly incised, some inlaid; front and back both highly arched; later bridge stamped HART. Back of one piece of slab-cut maple with figure of faint curl, with double purfling and carved with figures in high relief along centre line: below the button a putto holding a wreath, in the middle an eagle clutching a serpent, and at the lower end another putto riding an eagle; the three figures linked by scrolling acanthus foliage. Ribs with figure of medium curl. Pegbox with a dolphin carved in high relief on the back and child’s head finial; four rosewood pegs with mother-of-pearl inserts. Thin transparent varnish on back; golden-brown on front. Commentary The origin of this unusual violin is uncertain; it was clearly re-necked in England, c.1840, possibly by John Lott, and the front probably dates from the same time (information from Charles Beare). The patches are English. Two late 17th-century English violins with carving in relief on the back and pegbox survive, one unsigned but now attributed to Agutter, the so-called ‘King James’ violin in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the other with similar carving and the label of Ralph Agutter, dated 1686, in private ownership (see Dilworth 1999, pp.264–71); neither violin retains its original front. RCM 31 appears to be later, and could be by a member of the school of Barak Norman. A carved violin from later in the 18th century made by the painter Romney (see Milnes 2000, pp.298–9) shows that there may have been a continuing tradition of relief-carved backs in England. There are also German instruments, for example by Tielke, with relief carving on the back. The carving on RCM 31 is of higher quality than the violin, indicating that it was undertaken by a specialist woodcarver; the roughness on the back between carving and arching leads to the same conclusion. The motifs of the carving are likely to have an association with the identity of the first owner. It has been suggested (Donaldson 1896, pl.XIV) that the dolphin indicated that the instrument belonged to a Dauphin of the French royal family. Guersan was maker to the Dauphin and there is a stylised dolphin on his label (see 154
Violin, ?English, RCM 31: detail of carving on back
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Violin, ?English, RCM 31; see also colour plate, p.13
Violin, ?English, RCM 31: detail of carved putto with eagle
Violin, ?English, RCM 31: details of pegbox side and back 155
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RCM 43 Mute Violin English, late 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description A late 18th-century mute violin, re-necked in the 19th century Dimensions : 604, without tail-button 595 : 357 : upper ‘stirrup’ 77.5, waist (maximum) 65, lower stirrup 142 : at neck joint 36, at waist, at bridge position: 34.8, at tail 24 : 326 Description Carved from one piece of maple, with figure of faint curl, and with curved extensions top and bottom to imitate part of the outline of a violin; at the tail these stirrup-like pieces terminate in carved scrolls. The hollowed soundbox cavity in the waist of the instrument is only 156mm long and is covered by a slightly arched front, with a soundhole 21mm in diameter, ringed by two lines of purfling. Varnish golden-brown. Later neck and pegbox of conventional form with rosewood pegs. Commentary The volute of the lower stirrup on the bass side is a replacement. A practice instrument with a small soundbox designed to limit the volume. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII Baines 1966, p.10 & ill. Wells 1984, p.11
Mute violin, English, RCM 43
156
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RCM 346 Violin William Forster junior, London, 1819 Inscriptions Printed label: 1819 William Forster Jnr / Violin, Violoncello, Tenor & Bow-maker / to their ROYAL HIGHNESSES the PRINCE OF WALES & DUKE OF CUMBERLAND / London No 31 [1819, Jnr and No 31 handwritten]; Prince of Wales’s feathers on left, royal arms on right Handwritten on rib above tailbutton: W m Forster Jun. / London Stamped: RCM [in an oval] 90 On treble side of pegbox a seal in red wax depicting a right hand holding a sword, above the partially illegible motto: PRO R{EGE} ET PATRIA Brief description Early 19th-century English violin with original neck and bass bar Dimensions : 598, without tail-button 587 : 355 : upper bouts 166, middle bouts 110, lower bouts 205 : 32.5 : 323
Description Front of fine to wide grain; moderate arching; f-shaped soundholes; single purfling. Ribs and two-piece back of maple with figure of medium curl. Red-brown varnish. Boxwood pegs. Commentary This violin is of particular interest since it retains its original bass bar, neck and setting. The two sides of the front do not match: a dendrochronological analysis indicated the date of the youngest ring on the bass side of the front as 1682; no match was found for the treble side in existing chronologies and dated sequences from English instruments (Topham 2003). William Forster III (1764–1824) was chiefly renowned, as was his father, for his fine cellos. Provenance Bequest of Miss Fanny Mary Cameron, 1940. The motto and crest (‘a dexter hand grasping a sword proper’) are those of the donor’s family, the Camerons of Lakefield, co. Inverness. References Wells 1984, p.11 Topham 2003, p.137
Violin, William Forster jun., RCM 345: detail of seal on pegbox
Violin, William Forster jun., RCM 345 157
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RCM 54 Violin Thomas Howell, Bristol, 1836
A number of his instruments survive, including a similar violin in the National Music Museum, Vermillion (NMM 10283).
Inscriptions Printed label: Made by T.HOWELL, / Inventor of the Improved / 18 PATENT 36 / Violin, Tenor, Violoncello, / Double Bass and Spanish Guitar / at his Manufactory / and Music Warehouse BRISTOL. [date handwritten] Stamped near tail: HOWELL’S / PATENT; stamped on button: a crown; below it on back: PATENT / T. HOWELL BRISTOL / INVENTOR; on back at tail: PATENT Handwritten on inside of back: TH / 10
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XX Baines 1966, p.11 & ill.
Brief description Violin of patented design with cornerless outline, narrow upper bouts and long neck; the tailpiece fixed to the front Dimensions : 616 (tail-button recessed) : 317 : upper bouts 133, middle bouts 113, lower bouts 209 : at neck joint 29.5, at tail 35.8 : c.192 : 319½ Description Front two-piece, fine-grained, highly arched, with very little depression; C-shaped soundholes; single purfling on front and back; scallop-carved semi-domed block under fingerboard at neck to give greater strength to neck/body joint; applied maple plug and scroll-work on the front at tail, covering a strengthening screw into tailblock. Ribs and one-piece back of maple; the ribs taper from tail to neck. Long neck and pegbox with scroll; pegs with mother-of-pearl inserts. Tailpiece of wedge profile to give greater gluing area to front, and with undercutting to provide string-holding portion; probably also screwed on at the point where a mother-of-pearl disc is inlaid. Red-brown varnish. Commentary Howell’s patent related to ‘improvements in the construction of the violin, tenor, violoncello, and double bass’. The design was intended to facilitate playing in the higher positions, by lengthening the neck and reducing the length of the upper part of the body, and avoid ‘that inelegance of action which is so much complained of, even in the most expert performers.’ In addition the end […] of the violin […] is curved inwards, by which the instrument may be held with greater ease and the performer enabled to play with greater freedom, as he will by this construction be able to hold the instrument firmly under the chin, the concave at the end […] of the instrument fitting the neck of the performer […] I cause the tailpiece to be glued or affixed to the belly of the instrument […] by this means the tail-piece is out of the way of the chin. [Patent A.D1835 No. 6964, Thomas Howell, of Clare Street, Bristol, Music Seller.] 158
Violin, Thomas Howell, RCM 54
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RCM 36 Violin Jules Grandjon, Paris, c.1870
References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII
Inscriptions Printed label: J.Grandjon à Paris / 103 Boulevard Sébastopol et Rue Reaumur / 48 / BREVETE; S.G.D.G. Branded on back below button: J.GRANDJON / BREVETÉ / PARIS / 42 Branded on button: J. G. [enclosing a harp] Brief description A patented violin of oblong box-form, narrow and deep, with rounded corners, very shallow middle bouts and detachable neck Dimensions : 592½, without tail-button 584 : 361 : upper bouts 108.4, middle bouts 90.8, lower bouts 109.4 : 39.2 : c.334 Description Front of wide to medium grain; moderate arching; f-shaped sound holes with oblong serifs top and bottom. One-piece back with figure of moderate curl; shallow arching. One line of very fine purfling front and back. A simplified scroll with conventional fluting on the back but no volute; the ebony pegs have mother-of-pearl inserts. Nut missing. Commentary There are marks of another bridge position aligned with the notches of the sound-holes; the string length would be 10mm less with the bridge in this position. The instrument dismantles at an ingenious joint in the divided heel of the neck; this joint combines a dovetail with a mortise and tenon, to withstand the forward pull of the strings. A similar violin by Grandjon, dismantled in a fitted case, was sold at Sotheby’s (7 November 2006, Lot 265); another is in the Deutsches Museum, Munich (see Wackernagel 1997, p.247). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894
Violin, Jules Grandjon, RCM 36: detail of neck joint
Violin, Jules Grandjon, RCM 36 159
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RCM 186 Violin (lacquered) Chinese or Japanese, late 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Lacquered violin of Chinese or Japanese manufacture Dimensions : 585, without tail-button 579 : 348 : upper bouts 161, middle bouts 112, lower bouts 195 : 29.5 : 313 Description Dark brown lacquer all over front, back, ribs and fingerboard, with gilded ornament of birds, trees, and blossom; reddish ground under gilding with some slight embossing under flower centres and bird feathers. Front highly arched; f-shaped soundholes of crude outline without notches. Thick ribs built up and not bent, made of three pieces at middle bouts. No linings; the neck housing cut so that it is exposed at the back. Pegs of oriental appearance with plain heads and long shafts. Wide and compressed scroll with only slight protrusion of ears; deeply grooved nut. Replacement tailpiece; very low bridge. Commentary The instrument is thick and heavy and was originally three-stringed; the tailpiece dates from the conversion to four strings. According to a note about it by Hipkins, ‘Old Chanot said it was like playing on a tea-caddy’ (presumably George Chanot, 1831–93). Provenance Gift of John and Edith Hipkins, 1911; formerly in the collection of their father, A J Hipkins, who was given it by Herbert Cope, and listed it as Japanese. References None located
Violin, Chinese or Japanese, RCM 186
160
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RCM 182 Quarter-size Violin ?c.1900 Inscriptions None Brief description A quarter-size violin Dimensions : 436, without tail-button 433½ : 255½ : upper bouts 121, middle bouts 80.5, lower bouts 150.5 : 22 : 237 Description One-piece front of fine to medium grain; moderate arching; golden brown varnish. Two-piece plain maple back; moderate arching. Ribs of plain maple. Neck and pegbox of maple with figure of slight curl; well-cut scroll; blackstained fruitwood pegs. Provenance Unknown, given before 1964 References None located ___________________________
RCM 366 Sixteenth-size Violin c.1900 Inscriptions None Brief description A sixteenth-size violin
Dimensions : 343 : 200 : upper bouts 91, middle bouts 61.5, lower bouts 117 : 17.5 : 179 Description Front one-piece, wide-grained; back one-piece, of moderate curl; reddish-gold varnish; ebony pegs; bridge stamped E JESSUP. Provenance Bequest of H A M Marno, 1976 References None located
_______________________ RCM 283 Sixteenth-size Violin c.1900 Inscriptions None Brief description A sixteenth-size violin Dimensions : 342 : 201½ : upper bouts 91, middle bouts 61, lower bouts 118 : 18 : 181 Description Front one-piece; back of moderate curl, ribs plain; yellowgold varnish; ebonised pegs. Full-size bridge cut down and trimmed, with single foot. Provenance Unknown, given before 1964 References None located
Quarter-size violin, RCM 182
Sixteenth-size violins, RCM 366 [left] and RCM 283 [right] 161
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RCM 347 Viola ?Flemish, ?early 17th century Inscriptions Spurious printed label: Gaspard Duiffopruggar / bononiensis Anno 1571 [last two digits handwritten] Brief description Viola, ?early 17th century; later front and ribs, ?late 17th century Dimensions : 712, without tail-button 703 : 446 : upper bouts 206.5, middle bouts 149, lower bouts 247 : 41.6 : 381 Description Later front, very highly arched; wide to fine grain; considerable depression at soundholes; broadly-cut f-shaped soundholes. Double purfling front and back but the inner lines added later and incised not inlaid. The original purfling is black-white-black on the front but on the back is
white-black-white. Back one-piece, slab-cut, of ?poplar. Back and front pegged top and bottom. Ribs, later, of maple with figure of medium curl, let into back. Later neck spliced into heel of older neck and pegbox; earlier finial from another instrument is a blindfold Cupid. Reddish-golden varnish. Modern tailpiece and rosewood pegs; bridge stamped H.S. BRADDYLL Commentary The arching of the back suggests that it was made in the early years of the 17th century, perhaps by a Flemish maker since poplar does not seem to have been favoured for English instruments then and the varnish does not appear to be Italian. The front resembles the work of English makers such as Edward Lewis and, like the ribs, probably dates from the end of the 17th century (information from Charles Beare). The finial is probably from a viol. H Stanley Braddyll (born 1910) had a shop at the RCM (? from c.1937). Provenance Bequest of Miss Fanny Mary Cameron, 1940 References Wells 1984, p.11
Viola, ?Flemish, RCM 347: detail of pegbox 162
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Viola, ?Flemish, RCM 347; see also colour plates, p.15
163
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RCM 350 Viola Enrico Catenar, Turin, 1661 Inscriptions Printed label: HENRICUS CATENAR. / Fecit Taurini Anno 1661 [last two digits hand written] Brief description Mid 17th-century viola made in Turin, with an outline with very pronounced points. Dimensions : 718½, without tail-button 710 : 426 : upper bouts 198, middle bouts 130, lower bouts 241 : 42 : 383 Description Front of fine grain, highly arched; f-shaped soundholes; treble soundhole worn and enlarged; bass soundhole has repair at notch. Back of plain slab-cut maple; single purfling on front and back. Ribs set into the back; joints reinforced with fabric strips instead of linings. Later button of dovetail shape inlaid and fixed with two treenails; later neck. Gouge marks very apparent on original scroll and pegbox; rosewood pegs. Transparent golden-coloured varnish, much worn.
Commentary This rare example of Catenar’s work is believed to be the earliest of his identified surviving instruments. His later instruments are more conventional, without the distinctive outline and pronounced points of this fine viola (information from Charles Beare). Enrico Catenar (Catenari, Cattenar) was born Henricus Casner in Chislin (Chissigne), Franconia (now Frankland, central Germany), and worked in Turin from 1650 or earlier; since he acquired the business and married the widow of Gioanni Angerero (Johann Angerer, born in Füssen), he had perhaps also been his apprentice. Catenar became the city’s pre-eminent luthier and established the Piedmontese school; he died in 1701 at the age of 80 (see Kass 1998, pp.482–92). For a later instrument of the Turin school see pochetto d’amore, RCM 38, by Giovanni Battista Genova. Provenance Given before 1914, possibly by Mr Stevens References Wells 1984, p.11 The Strad Calendar 2000: ill. September
Viola, Enrico Catenar, RCM 350: detail of label
Viola, Enrico Catenar, RCM 350: details of scroll 164
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Viola, Enrico Catenar, RCM 350; see also colour plates, p.14
Viola, Enrico Catenar, RCM 350: details of scroll 165
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RCM 53 Viola Attributed to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, Milan, c.1685 Inscriptions Spurious printed Amati label: Antonius et Hieronymus Fr Amati / Cremonen Andrea fil F 1590 Brief description Late 17th-century Milanese viola (?violetta) with festoon outline; pegbox probably from a viol Dimensions : 642, without tailbutton 632 : 379 : upper bouts 190, middle bouts 125, lower bouts 358 : c.33 : 358
Commentary Attributed by Charles Beare to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino. Instruments of similar outline signed by Giovanni Grancino survive in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan, dated 1662, and the National Music Museum, Vermillion, dated 1693; these are currently four-stringed (with body length 378mm) and five-stringed (body length c.365mm) respectively. The latter instrument is believed to have been five-stringed originally, as is another example in private ownership. So it seems likely that RCM 53 was also built for five strings. Its present pegbox is of the same date as the body but probably from a viol. There is not sufficient room in it for sympathetic strings.
Description Perhaps five-stringed originally. Front of fine to medium grain; f-shaped soundholes; front and back highly arched with long flat area and moderate depression. Single purfling, front and back. Back one-piece, slab-cut, the transverse arching asymmetrical. Varnish golden-brown. Later neck jointed into a step cut in the heel of older neck; dart-shaped scarf-joint approximately half-way along later neck into older neck and pegbox. The finial is a grotesque head enclosed between volutes and the back of the pegbox has foliate carving. The pegbox, originally for six pegs, has had two pegholes plugged and has been narrowed for four strings.
Viola, attr. to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, RCM 53: detail of pegbox 166
Viola, attr. to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, RCM 53
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Some have called these instruments violettas. This term was commonly used for the viola in the 18th century (and for the cello earlier); it also appears on solo and orchestral parts in contra-distinction to violin and viola and could there have indicated a viol or a viola da braccio (see Catch 1994, pp.90–1). Further investigation of these sources and of instruments such as RCM 53 is needed. Concerning Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, see Grove 2001, v.10, p.283.
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894. Possibly ex-Chanot, if it was the instrument Chanot exhibited as ‘No 113, Violin, unusual shape of ancient date’ (see South Kensington 1872, p.11). References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XX Wells 1984, p.11
Viola, attr. to Giovanni and Francesco Grancino, RCM 53
167
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RCM 185 Viola in viol form (?formerly Viol) ?19th century Inscriptions Stamped below button: WILLIAM HALL / BIRMINGHAM Brief description Viola with viol-form outline, possibly built as viol with arched back; renecked ?c.1900 Dimensions : 690, without tail-button 682 : 410 : upper bouts 206, middle bouts 133, lower bouts 257 : 48.5 : 369½ Description Sloping shoulders and very slight out-turn to points at upper and lower corners; currently strung as a viola. Front of medium arching and very slight depression; small C-shaped sound holes with large notches; two incised lines as ‘purfling’ on front and back; front and back flush to ribs; two-piece rounded back with figure of moderate curl. Dark reddish-brown varnish. A bead is cut in the ribs at the neck joint. Awkwardly carved scroll with the fluting stopping short above pegbox. The button has two treenails into the heel of neck. There is a wedge under fingerboard but this was only to add thickness to a neck that was not deep enough. Bridge stamped W.E.Hill & Sons, with unusual trefoil opening. Commentary The Hall stamp may relate to the neck and pegbox, which appear to be later (?c.1900). The instrument may originally have been built as a viol with arched back rather than a viola with viol outline. Provenance It may be the ‘viol’ given by John and Edith Hipkins in 1911 (and described by Frere (1926) as having an arched back and four strings), previously owned by George Loder of Bath, then J T Pritchard who gave it to Alfred James Hipkins in 1888, having owned it for 54 years. References None located
168
Viola in viol form (?formerly viol), RCM 185
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RCM 351 Cello Gaetano Pasta, Brescia, 1714 Inscriptions Printed label: Gaetano Pasta Milanese, allieuo / dell’ Amati di Cremona, alla / Pallada in Brescia A 1714 [last five characters handwritten; three printed characters beneath the A, apparently 180 (presumably a printer’s error)] Small punch mark on bass side of top of heel of later neck: RCM [in an oval] 18 Brief description Early 18th-century Brescian cello Dimensions : 1177 : 703 : upper bouts 335, middle bouts 226, lower bouts 421 : 117 : 669 Description Front two-piece, of wide to medium grain; f-shaped soundholes; both front and back moderately arched. Two-
piece back of ?poplar with figure of narrow curl; there is a hole 460mm from tail, for attaching a neck-strap. Single purfling on front and back; on the back it is formed of black pigment in a pair of incised lines. Clear pale-gold varnish. The neck, of figured maple, is later and a piece of the button was damaged when this neck was fitted. Original pegbox and scroll of plainer maple; later rosewood pegs. There is an old repaired break where the scroll joins the pegbox; the cello currently lacks tailpiece, endpin and bridge. Commentary This relatively small cello, which some would term a violoncello piccolo, shows the influence of Grancino and his contemporaries in Milan, and of J B Rogeri of Brescia, with whom Gaetano Pasta (fl. 1710–60) is believed to have trained. The plugged hole in the back indicates that it was shoulder-held with a strap (concerning the viola or violoncello da spalla, see Barnett 1998, pp.81–106). Provenance Gift of Mrs Hickens, 1917 References None located
Cello, Gaetano Pasta, RCM 351: front, back and detail of label 169
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RCM 49 Five-stringed Cello Neck and Pegbox ?French, early 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Five-stringed cello neck and pegbox with a grinning satyr’s head finial Dimensions : 529 : 458 : 254 : at nut 47 : at narrowest point 34, at joint 49
Commentary Possibly made for a violoncello piccolo. Whereas most five-stringed cellos have been converted to four strings and their original pegboxes lost, this neck and pegbox is a rare survival, preserved due to the fine carving. The carving around the pegholes may be later in date. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XIX Wells 1984, p.11
Description One-piece upper block, neck and open-backed pegbox of ?service wood; holes for five pegs; the sides of the pegbox are carved in low relief with a rosette around each peghole; the finial is a grinning satyr’s head. The ribs were housed into slots in the integral block, and wedged and glued. There are remnants of spruce wedges and small fragments of ribs still there; also traces of glued cloth reinforcement where the tip of the curved block was attached to a back.
Five-stringed cello neck and pegbox, ?French, RCM 49: details of pegbox and side 170
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RCM 50 Philomele German, mid 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Philomele, a form of wire-strung violin with a flat back Dimensions : 595 : 355 : upper bouts 174.5, middle bouts 106, lower bouts 230 : 31 : 332 Description Outline with sloping shoulders and only two corners, at junction of upper bouts with continuous middle and lower bouts. Flat front of very fine grain with two flame holes. Light gold varnish. Intarsia panel in various woods, some coloured, inlaid in front below bridge within a cartouche of purfling, showing a townscape of high-pitched roofs and a church with mountains beyond. One line of purfling plus chequered edge-banding. Back flat, without purfling. Pegbox with lion head and four machine tuners. Combined bridge and hitchpiece jointed to the end of the fingerboard and glued to front. Strings pass over bone slip in top of bridge and are hitched to brass pins in the tailside of the bridge. End of fingerboard has openings cut below bowing area. Back has three transverse bars. Commentary The hitching of the strings to a bridge fastened to the end of the fingerboard means the strain on the front is upward instead of downward; there is no bar or post under it. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XX
Philomele, German, RCM 50
171
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RCM 29 Philomele German, mid 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Philomele, a form of wire-strung violin with a flat back Dimensions : 588 : 351 : upper bouts 155.5, middle bouts, 90.5 lower bouts 199.5 : 29 : 320 Description Guitar-shape with a double curve at shoulders. Flat twopiece front, fine-grained, with unusual and elaborate flame soundholes edged with delicate chequered purfling and lines. Similar purfling on front and back, and on top and bottom edges of ribs. Flat two-piece back and ribs all of ?kingwood. Strings were attached to hitchpins on bridge originally (holes plugged). Brass wire insert in top of ebony bridge. Three-legged bridge tongued and grooved onto end of fingerboard and glued to front. Ebony fingerboard with star/flower piercing at lower end. Neck and pegbox in flamed maple with lion head as finial; four machine tuners with bone pegheads. Commentary The instrument was modified at some point and set up with the strings hitched to a conventional tailpiece, ornate in style (see Donaldson 1896). There is a loose soundpost from that period since there was downward pressure on the front at that time. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XIV
Philomele, German, RCM 29
172
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RCM 212 Rebecchino (Lira) ?Italian, ?late 19th century
References Racster 1907, p.44 Galpin 1928, p.880
Inscriptions None Brief description Rebecchino, a three-stringed rebec-type instrument Dimensions : 537 : 122 : 50 : 312 Description Body, neck and pegbox carved from one piece of ?poplar. Flat front of poplar or willow with two rudimentary f-shaped soundholes. The neck is hollowed and covered with a poplar fingerboard whose underside is also hollowed. Width of neck at nut: 29.4mm. Simple, unpierced, bridge, the flat top grooved for a missing insert. Bridge height: 21mm. The tailpiece is hitched to an integral endpin with twine. The soundpost under the centre of the bridge was inserted through a hole in the back. Simple flat-faced hook finial to pegbox; three carved, not turned, pegs of oak; nut of oak in a sawcut. Simple painted decoration of lines and dots, in blue, black and red, on front and fingerboard. Three plain gut strings. Commentary Similar instruments with almost identical decoration survive, for example in the Musikinstrumenten Museum, Leipzig, and Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC; one lacking bridge and tailpin is illustrated in Leopoldo Franciolini’s Catalogue 3A, Series E, c.1895 (Ripin 1974, p.39, fig.6). The Smithsonian instrument was acquired in Florence; another is in the Galleria dell’ Accademia, Florence (see Gai 1969, p.70, n.48, & ill.67, p.76). They were apparently made and decorated for sale to collectors rather than for use by regional musicians. While not all the instruments Franciolini sold in Florence were forgeries, and in some cases the workers he employed simply added decoration to existing specimens, ‘certain standardized wind and stringed instruments were manufactured … in fair numbers’ (Ripin 1974, p.xi). Gabriele Rossi-Rognoni has shown (unpublished paper, Vermillion, 2006) that Franciolini was contributing to the marketing of antiques and copies (‘the new Renaissance furniture factory’) developed by Stefano Bardini from the mid 1860s. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson after 1899 and before 1907, when it is mentioned (in Racster 1907) as an ‘authentic rebec… to be seen in the Donaldson Museum at the Royal College of Music’. According to a 1926 typescript list by A H Frere, a bow was associated with the instrument at that time: ‘The bow is of true rebec type, 18 long with a depth of curve of 2.25 , & in place of horsehair has a gut string tied through holes at each end’. Rebecchino (Lira), ?Italian, RCM 212 173
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RCM 380 Gusle Serbian, 1930 Inscriptions Carved on the side of the peg head: J B / 1929 Carved at the top of the fingerboard and on pendant: JB Three inscriptions carved in relief on sides in Serbian: 1. МАЧ И ГУСЛЕ / ТО ДРАГО КАМЕЊЕ / СРБИНУ СУ / НАЈВЕЧЕ НАМЕЊЕ [transliteration: MAC̆ I GUSLE / TO DRAGO KAMENJE / SRBINU SU / NAYVEC̆E ZNAMENJE; translation: The sword and the gusle these precious jewels (lit. stones) to Serbs are the greatest possessions] 2. ХУГО Х ЕГЕРСДОРФЕР 1930Г [transliteration: HUGO H EGERSDORFER 1930G] 3. HUGO H EGERSDORFER / FER . KAPETAN. I. KL. / 25/III. 1930 ГОД. [transliteration: […] / 1930 GOD; translation: Hugo H Egersdorfer Captain 1st Class 25/III. 1930 year.] Four Cs, the left two in reverse, carved on the back (around opening) and the bass side (within a coat of arms: see Description) are an abbreviation of: САМА СЛОГА СРБИНА СПАШАВА [SAMA SLOGA SRBINA SPAS̆AVA; Only Unity Serbia Saves]
leaves and tendrils. All edges bordered with chip carving. Back varnished. Front fastened to edges with brass strip and nails. Tinplate clasp where front meets neck. Rawhide tail-piece attached to integral tailpin. Front of neck also carved with abstract ornament. One large posterior peg, with slot for string and ornamental pendant carved from one piece of wood. Finial a horse’s head with inset wood and brass eyes. A carved snake, also with inset eyes, entwines the neck and rears up below the horse’s head. Commentary The coat-of-arms is characteristically Serbian. The gusle was used by singers to accompany epic songs of Serbian history and poetry and it was customary to carve dates commemorating significant national events on the instruments. Yugoslavia was created in 1929; the inscriptions on RCM 380 may refer to a battle in 1930 or perhaps to the heroism or promotion of Egersdorfer. Provenance Gift of the Royal Academy of Music, December 1981 References None located
Brief description Gusle, a Serbian fiddle with a single string Dimensions : 695½ : 297 : 208 : 74 : at peg 30, at top of front 33 : (no mark of bridge placement) from peg to tail 528 Description Front of leather stretched over a body, neck and head made in one piece, of ?poplar. Front pierced with simple cross and flower shapes. A spoon-shaped back with sloping sides and flat bottom carved all over in low relief with scrolling foliage, inscriptions, and a coat of arms with a crown and double-headed eagle. Middle of back has a cross-shaped opening surrounded with carved grapes,
Gusle, Serbian, RCM 380: details of coat of arms and inscription 3
Gusle, Serbian, RCM 380 174
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RCM 131 Fiddle 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Lute-backed fiddle of bizarre form with slightly waisted outline Dimensions : 646 : 344 WIDTH: upper bouts 134, middle bouts 116, lower bouts 132 : 85 : c.305 Description Two-piece arched front of medium to wide grain at edges; two simplified f-shaped soundholes without notches or serifs; raised laminated edging. Remains of tail-pin replaced by glued-on platform to which missing tailpiece was attached by three screws. Upper and lower ends of back of coconut shells or similar, joined by a central semi-cylindrical section of ?burr ash or similar wood. Tricolour linen tape over joints between shells and wood, and along top edges of back. Decorative collars or rings glued to back each side of upper bouts, one remaining. Maple neck and pegbox with a large dragon head finial, facing away from player, grafted on. Fingerboard of nearly flat section of ?ash veneer on an ebonised wedge. Holes for six pegs; shown in Donaldson 1896 with four strings. Commentary No bass bar and possibly no soundpost. Curious inserts in front at soundholes which seem to fill the outlines of earlier soundholes of shorter more conventional form. Plugged hole in heel of neck covering some form of additional attachment to upper block. Possibly of Indian manufacture. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson, 1896, pl.XXXVII
Fiddle, RCM 131
175
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RCM 390 Fiddle 19th century Inscriptions The soundholes form initials, possibly S [and] L Brief description Four-stringed fiddle of violin outline with vestigial corners Dimensions : 671 : 381½ : upper bouts 188, middle bouts 134, lower bouts 185 : at neck joint 37, at tail 86 : c.385 Description Front almost flat, c.7mm thick, of dark-stained beech, with deep decorative groove cut around edges; two soundholes of letter form, possibly S and L, with a heart-shaped hole in between. The heart-shaped bridge does not rest on the front; it has a square stem which passes through a hole in the front to rest on the back, where it is located on the point of a nail. It is not clear where the strings were located on the bridge; there are various points in the carving where they could rest, and on the outside corners are two wire eyes that could have held strings. Tailpiece (now missing) was attached to vertical post fixed over rib joint at tail. Ribs, also of beech, are fixed to rebates on front and back by nails (some of wood, some of iron); the upper and lower ribs overlap the ribs of the middle bouts to form slight ‘corners’. Back is one-piece, of coarse slab-cut coniferous wood. Neck and pegbox of beech. Nut and fingerboard missing; pegbox, for frontal pegs, is hollowed out behind and carved as the clenched fist of a left hand with the elongated thumb protruding as finial. The strings come to the front of the pegbox through holes in the nails of the four fingers; junction of neck and pegbox are carved as the cuffed wrist of the hand; pegs missing. Commentary A heavy and robust instrument of rough workmanship and curious design. Interestingly the back, of coniferous wood, functions as the soundboard, not the beech front; the single leg of the bridge passes loosely through the hole in the front and transmits vibration directly only to the back. Three holes in the front of the neck are probably for fastenings for a one-piece fingerboard and nut. Provenance Gift of the Royal Academy of Music, London, 1981 References None located
176
Fiddle, RCM 390: front
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P K P D’A
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RCM 40 Pochette Attributed to Mathias Wörle, Augsburg, c. 1675 Inscriptions Handwritten label, indecipherable through narrow soundholes; it may include {…}W{- - [?] lle} in {…} [?] {1675} Brief description Pochette (Taschengeige) with boat-shaped body Dimensions : 442 (tailbutton integral) : 263 : 35 : 23 : 237 Description Front fine-grained, highly-arched, with deep depressions at edges; C-shaped soundholes; small inlay of flowers and heart between bridge and fingerboard and a small heartshaped piercing. Back of five ribs of alternating ebony and ivory, with ebony and ivory lines in joints; lined with paper. Neck veneered with thirteen alternating strips of ebony and ivory; boxwood pegs; pegbox finial the head of a boy carved in ivory. The tailpiece and fingerboard are decorated in alternating strips of ebony and ivory, three on the tailpiece, and seven on the fingerboard. Fingerboard length: 145mm; bridge new.
Commentary Pochettes were commonly played by dancing masters and carried in their pockets, hence the name; some examples have especially fine carving and inlaid decoration, and were presumably owned by the wealthy. The attribution is based on close similarities to pochettes signed by Mathias Wörle of Augsburg, Tyrol, for example one dated 1691 in the National Music Museum, Vermillion (see Early Music 18/4 (November 1990) p.590), a second, dated 1670, sold at Sotheby’s, 12th November 1986 (Lot 217), and a third in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Bletschacher 1978, p.151). The fact that RCM 40 has a label supports the attribution since Wörle was one of the relatively few makers to sign their pochettes. It may have been possible to read the date 1675 on it earlier (see Donaldson 1896). Mathias Wörle was born c.1650 in Vils, married in 1676 in Augsburg and died there before 1695 (Lütgendorff 1990, p.690). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII
Pochette, attr. Mathias Wörle, RCM 40: details of pegbox 178
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Pochette, attr. Mathias Wörle, RCM 40: detail of rear of neck and pegbox
Pochette, attr. Mathias Wörle, RCM 40 179
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RCM 55 Pochette ?German, 17th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette (Taschengeige) with a boat-shaped body Dimensions : 492, without tail-button 487 : 316 : 39.9 : 35 : 302 Description Front highly-arched, edged with a single black line and pierced with small holes forming a cruciform pattern at end of fingerboard. Back of five staves of ?plumwood with ivory lines along centres and joints; lined with paper; both ends of staves have inlaid plaques of ?ivory decorated with motif of sunflowers, the lines of the engraving filled with red pigment. Tail-button of bone or ivory; later tailpiece. Fingerboard decorated alternately in chequers and lines of ebony and ivory, with pierced and notched decoration at lower end. Neck and pegs of fruitwood; pegs have small ivory buttons; further bone or ivory plaques in back and sides of pegbox with foliate and sunflower motifs incised and reddened; chip-carved edge to pegbox, and finial in the form of a ?lion’s head. Commentary The finial has a black inlay under the chin, probably covering an old repair. The style of the carved head suggests that the pochette may be Saxon or Polish in origin. It is probably by the same maker as a similar pochette lent by M Jubinal, Paris, for exhibition in 1872 (South Kensington 1872, Plate III, no 65). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, ?German, RCM 55: details of pegbox side and back 180
Pochette, ?German, RCM 55
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RCM 61 Pochette Italian, ?1695 Inscriptions In ink, on two out of three circular mother-of-pearl inlays at top of back; at centre: Anno, on bass side: 1695 Brief description Pochette (canino, sordino) with boat-shaped body Dimensions : 482; without tail-button: 469 : 266 : 40.5 : 38.5 : c.251 (no distinct bridge marks: this measurement is to centre of soundpost) Description Pegbox, neck and hollowed-out back of one-piece construction from a single piece of walnut, but giving the appearance of stave construction with a neck-joint. Slightly arched front of medium grain, with little depression curvature and no purfling. Finial is a beast’s head, encircled by a curious metal ligature with horns. The instrument is profusely decorated with inlays of engraved ?bone and mother-of pearl, and metal lines. Tail-button is a whistle. One peg missing. Bridge new. Commentary The ligature on the head may be a repair treated decoratively. A third circular mother-of-pearl inlay at the top of the back on the treble side is a replacement so possibly there was another inscription originally. It is unusual to find a date on the exterior of a pochette and this one could be spurious; it may, however, have been inscribed there simply because it is difficult to read labels through pochette soundholes. There is similar decoration on a canino with the label of Antonio Cati, Florence, 1641 (see Gatti 1998, p.63). Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, Italian, RCM 61
181
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RCM 60 Pochette Italian, ?late 17th or early 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette (canino, sordino) with boat-shaped body Dimensions : 440, without tailbutton 430 : 277 : 33 : 29.5 : 273 (no bridge marks; measured to notches in soundholes) Description Pegbox, neck and back probably of one-piece construction, but imitating five-stave construction; covered in decorative veneers of bone, ebony and another dark wood, possibly kingwood. Front of cypress with slight depression; C-shaped soundholes, closely spaced; between them an inlay of simple floral form in dark wood and mother-of-pearl; inlay of skull and bones surmounted by a cross at end of fingerboard. A moulding defines junction of neck and body; the five ‘staves’ of the back veneered in chequered chevrons laid herringbone fashion; the neck similarly veneered in smaller pieces. The pattern also runs onto back and sides of pegbox; scroll striped laterally with bone and ebony on the front face of the volute and the sides partially veneered in ?kingwood; ears of scroll have bone buttons. Fingerboard, front and tailpiece edgebanded with alternating ebony and mother-of-pearl; an inlay of an archer on lower end of fingerboard. Integral tailbutton. Four unusual pegs with crescent-shaped heads enclosing a bone button; tips of pegs have turned bone finials. Bridge new. Commentary The decoration on the front may be later in date. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, Italian, RCM 60
182
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RCM 56 Pochette ?German, late 17th or 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette (Taschengeige) with boat-shaped body Dimensions : 411, without tail-button 407 : 263 : 39 : 31 : c.232 (no bridge marks; measured to notches in soundholes) Description One-piece construction of pegbox, neck and hollowed-out back, but giving the appearance of stave construction with a neck-joint; of maple with figure of slight curl. Front finegrained, with slight depression at edges; C-shaped soundholes and a heart-shaped opening below end of fingerboard; painted purfling. Golden varnish. Lion finial to pegbox and simple gouge-carved ornament to edge of pegbox; ivory pegs. Fingerboard decorated with alternating strips of ?bone and ebony. Tailpiece of bone and ebony hitched to an integral tailbutton. Bridge new. Commentary Probably of Saxon origin. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894, with ‘its original wood-case painted with a domestic scene and “The Dog’s Polka,” composed by Clausenius’ (Donaldson 1896); the case, cylindrical in form, was also described by Frere in 1926, but was missing in 1943. A leather-covered pochette case is illustrated in Thornton 1982, pp.21 & 26. References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, ?German, RCM 56
183
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RCM 174 Pochette Italian, ?late 18th or 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette (canino, sordino) with boat-shaped body Dimensions : 549, without tailbutton 538½ : 325 : 47 : 31.5 : 299 (no bridge marks; measured to notches in soundholes) Description One-piece construction of pegbox, neck and back, which has six apparent staves, of maple. Low-arched front of wide grain, with f-shaped soundholes, close to s-shaped; edged with a wide ornamental purfling, consisting of a pattern of mother-of-pearl lozenges and discs; a third soundhole between bridge and end of fingerboard, pierced like a rudimentary lute rose. Back is veneered with ?ebony and bone marquetry of simple repeating foliage pattern; these veneers were put on after the front and cover the joint. Neck and pegbox stained black and inlaid with lines, dots and lozenges of bone and mother-of-pearl. Lion’s head finial to pegbox; boxwood pegs. Ebony fingerboard profusely inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Bridge new. Provenance Unknown; given before 1926, when it was listed by Frere amongst instruments not in the Donaldson Collection. References None located
Pochette, Italian, RCM 174
184
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RCM 190 Pochette ?19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette with straight-sided conical body Dimensions : 573, without tailbutton 566 : 307 : 50 : 42 : c.324 (see Commentary) Description Front, maple, with figure of faint curl, is bent and highly arched, the transverse section resembling an ogival arch; no purfling. Bridge with widely-splayed rounded feet which rest on the concave outside edges of front. No soundpost but one deep transverse bar at mid-point of a figure-of-eight soundhole; two other small soundholes. Back of five staves veneered in tortoiseshell with ivory and ebony purfling, three white lines and two black, at joints; four of the same lines run up the back of the neck. Neck and neck-block of one piece of maple. Pegbox openbacked, of ?maple stained black, angled backwards quite sharply; separately carved finial in the form of a goat’s head also stained black; front and back edges of pegbox decorated with bone, ivory and ebony lines. Four bone pegs. Fingerboard length: 220mm. Commentary There is no indication of string length but the bridge was probably intended to be at the mid-point of the curious soundhole and thus above the bar; the string length would then be c.324mm. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson after 1899 References None located
Pochette, RCM 174
185
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RCM 39 Pochette ?Flemish, ?18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette with festoon outline; later neck and pegbox, c.1800 Dimensions : 460 : 250 : upper bouts: 79.5, middle bouts 49, lower bouts 89 : 25 : 271 Description Front fine-grained, highly arched, glued directly to arched back without ribs; C-shaped soundholes; single purfling front and back. Reddish-gold varnish with paler underlayer. Tailpiece tied to ebony saddle by a loop of gut passing through two holes in front and back. The neck has a heel deeper than the body with a dart-shaped insertion into the back at the button. Deeply undercut and widely flared scroll; ebony pegs. Commentary The shallow soundbox is formed entirely from the arching of front and back. The scroll and neck appear to be later than the body and to have been made by a workman associated with John Betts in London, c.1800; the origin of the body remains uncertain (information from Charles Beare). The outline is similar to that of a pochette (canino) pattern of Stradivari (see Sacconi 1979, pp.242 & 243, fig.176) and RCM 39 was formerly attributed to Stradivari. The measurements, however, do not correspond and a dendrochronological assessment by John Topham found no match with existing data on either Italian or English tree-rings. Pochettes of similar outline by Gaspar Borbon survive (for example Brussels, Musée des Instruments de Musique, no.2764, dated 1686) but differ in construction and measurements. There is an anonymous pochette that does have the same construction, dimensions and curious neck/body joint as RCM 39, in the Gemeentemuseum, the Hague (no.Ec 137-X-1952, on loan from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam); according to the published plan, it is 18th century, with body length 253mm. Possibly the bodies of this instrument and RCM 39 are both Flemish. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII Grove 1928, v.4 p.211 Grove 1948, v.4 p.211 Grove 1954, v.4 p.770 Remnant 1978, p.68 Grove 1980, v.10 pp.86–7 & ill. Grove 1984, v.2 p.439 & ill. Wells 1984, p.11
186
Grove 2001, v.13 pp.635–7 & ill. Coates 1985, p.100 Remnant 1989, ill. p.72
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Pochette, ?Flemish, RCM 39; see also colour plates, p.15 187
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RCM 42 Kit English, 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Kit of reduced violin outline, the back and shallow ‘ribs’ carved from one piece Dimensions : 461, without tailbutton 450 : 203 : upper bouts 92.6, middle bouts 66, lower bouts 112 ( ): 30 ‘’ (see Description): at tail 12, at waist 9, at button 16 : c.283 (measured to marks of old bridge position) Description Front very highly arched, of medium to wide grain; fshaped soundholes and single purfling; very depressed carving at soundholes. Front does not overlap ‘ribs’. Back of maple, of slight curl, highly arched with single purfling. Golden varnish; boxwood pegs. Fingerboard length: 864mm. Commentary Front worn at bridge feet. Later neck; unusual jointing of this neck to old soundbox shows that originally the back, ‘ribs’ and neck were of one-piece construction. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.1 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII
Kit, English, RCM 42 188
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RCM 37 Pochette Portuguese or Spanish, ?19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette with back and neck of one-piece construction hollowed and carved from beech, the body resembling a fish Dimensions : 440 : 212 : 97 : 44 : 266 Description Front thin, highly-arched, of beech; arching of front and back form in section an almost symmetrical cavity. Dark brown varnish. The whole carved to resemble a flat fish; the lower back has two eyes, mouth and gills, and the fishtail splays each side of the upper body at the junction of body and neck. Edges of back carved with V tool to resemble fins. Broad and rudimentary f-shaped soundholes; the treble-side hole enlarged. Pegbox finial simply carved to form a double-headed bird; four darkstained pegs. Squat bridge of conventional violin form. Stained fingerboard and wedge in one piece 212mm long. Solid bone tailpiece hitched on a loop of gut through holes in front and back. Commentary There is no soundpost present but it could have fallen out of the large soundholes. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII
Pochette, Portuguese or Spanish, RCM 37 189
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RCM 59 Pochette French, ?late 17th or 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette, originally combined with a fan; festoon outline Dimensions : 341 : 147 : upper bouts 47, middle bouts 35, lower bouts 62 : 32 : c.230 (no bridge or marks; measured to mid-point of two-part soundholes) Description Pegbox, neck, back and ribs constructed from one piece of maple. The front is also of maple, strongly figured, with two-part flame soundholes; darkened but unvarnished. No purfling or inlays. Between the back and a secondary false back there is a slot which once housed a fan; the slot is 8.6mm high and the arched false back 7mm thick. The rib height of the soundbox is 9.4mm and its flat back is 7mm thick. There is a groove on the inner surface of the false back and a hole through the heel of the neck for the sticks of the fan. Ebony wedge and fingerboard; a second wedge of stained ?maple. Pegbox with scroll. Pegs, tailpiece and bridge missing. Tailpiece was attached to a square notched brass nail driven into the front; there is an opening to the interior of neck and body at the tail to house a bow. Commentary There are four small holes in the flat inner surface of the false back, possibly for holding it while the arching was carved. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, French, RCM 59
190
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RCM 57 Pochette French, ?late 17th or 18th century Inscriptions None Brief description Pochette, originally combined with a fan; festoon outline Dimensions : 286 : 124 : upper bouts 44, middle bouts 37, lower bouts 54 : 21 : c.10 : 5.3 : 191 (no bridge or marks; measured to notches in soundholes) Description The rim, inner back and neck made from one piece of ?beech, with front and secondary back of walnut. Front and back inlaid with purfling and floral design in pewter. The same inlay outlines back and sides of pegbox. Ebony wedge and fingerboard decorated with bone and ebony chevron banding in three strips and further metal inlay; nut and scroll of pegbox missing. Boxwood pegs; one missing. Later plain tailpiece of holly. The tailpin is formed from a later plug-in stopper to the opening at tail of instrument; this originally had a hinged cover. Commentary The depth of the body has been reduced. This pochette formerly had provision for a fan but the false back, which formed the rear of the slot for the fan, has been glued directly to the back proper and the heel of the neck cut down. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXI
Pochette, French, RCM 57
191
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RCM 38 Pochetto d’Amore Giovanni Battista Genova, Turin, c.1765 Inscriptions Printed label: BATTISTA GENOVA Brief description Pochetto d’amore (pochette d’amour) with viol outline and four sympathetic strings Dimensions : 527 : upper bouts 90, middle bouts 55, lower bouts 110 : 29 : 310 (as currently set up; no other marks) Description Viol outline with sloping shoulders and corners without points. Fine to medium grain front; moderate arching; single purfling. C-shaped soundholes; extra heart-shaped and circular piercings below end of fingerboard. Pale gold varnish, thin and rubbed. Back hollowed, spoon-shaped. Neck and pegbox from one piece of maple with figure of faint curl. Pegbox with simplified hook-form scroll and open back; eight pegs of ?plum. One-piece wedge and fingerboard of maple veneered in ebony. Sympathetic strings pass over metal nut below main nut, then under fingerboard to four holes in the lower part of bridge; and over tailpiece saddle to two brass staples, one each side of an integral carved hook, to which is hitched the tailpiece gut. Later shield-shaped tailpiece. Commentary The neck appears to have been re-shaped. Pochettes with sympathetic strings are rare; a few other examples survive, including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and one by Genova in private ownership. Giovanni Battista Genova married in 1763 and was a pupil of Giovanni Francesco Celoniato of Turin (see Kass 2005, p.60); there is a pochetto d’amore by his son Filippo Antonio Eugenio Celoniato in the Royal Ontario Museum. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894. It was formerly associated with the pochette bow, RCM 303, according to Frere’s 1926 list (see Catalogue, Part IV, Bows: www.cph.rcm.ac.uk) References Donaldson 1896, pl.XVII Grove 1928, v.4 p.211 Grove 1948, v.4 p.211 Grove 1954, v.4 p.770 Baines 1966, p.10 & ill. Galpin 1968, p.74, pl.XXXII Grove 1980, v.10 p.87 & ill. Grove 1984, v.2 p.439 & ill. Wells 1984, p.12 Grove 2001, v.13 pp.636–7 & ill. Coates 1985, pp.158, 162 & 103–5 & ill.
192
Pochetto d’amore, Giovanni Battista Genova, RCM 38
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T M
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RCM 244 Marien Trompet ?German, ?2nd half of 17th century Inscriptions Paper label on left shoulder of finial: 2092 [?inventory number] Brief description Marien Trompet (trumpet marine) with a one-piece front Dimensions : 1935 : 1184 : 1125 : 804 : at nut 45, at label G nearest body 55.5 : at tail 342, at top 112 : at top-block 74, at tail 183 : 1435 (to scratched location marks around feet of bridge) Description Front of slab-cut coniferous wood, one-piece, with five transverse bars. The single string is hitched through a hole in the front near the tail; the hole has a strengthening plate on the underside. The string passes over a saddle of semicircular section, 14mm high, to the trembling bridge. One foot of the bridge is under the string, the other is offset and smaller, designed to buzz against the front. Back of seven staves of ?cherrywood, fastened at the lower end to a jointed open frame; at the top the staves are fixed to a hollowed block and there is no other framing. Original vellum strips strengthen joints inside and there are also later cloth reinforcements. The upper block carries an exposed secondary top-block. It is not clear how the two blocks are connected, but the front continues over both; at the back is an iron reinforcement, fixed with four screws, linking both blocks. Over the joint there was also some glued and nailed external wooden reinforcement, of which one strip survives. Neck and pegbox made from one piece of beech. There is a modern cylindrical nut made from a piece of dowel, but it rests in a concavity which may indicate an original nut of similar form. The single peg is of ebony; the pegbox is ebonised and has a blackamoor head finial with a studded gilt collar. There are traces of red pigment on the lips and partially gilded carved leaves descend from the shoulders to the front, back and sides of the pegbox. This area, and the exposed top-block, are built up with added laminations of beech. There are MS paper labels on front of neck indicating positions of harmonics, at the following distances from the nut: H 92
E 146
D 291
A 106
D 161
C 364
G 121
C 178
G 487
F 133
G 244
Commentary Present bridge is 43.5mm high, 78.6mm wide, but marks indicate a narrower bridge, c.71mm wide. Reinforcement plate at neck may not be original but is early, fixed with handmade screws. There are traces of raised sealing wax markers opposite the labels on the front of the neck, as further aids for the player. The trumpet marine (tromba marina, Marien Trompet, Nonnengeige, Trompetengeige or Trumscheit) was bowed below the nut and played entirely in harmonics touched by the left thumb or one finger; provided that the bridge was adjusted correctly the resulting tone resembled that of a trumpet. Many survived in convents (hence the name Nonnengeige) and were used there in place of trumpets. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1899 References Baines 1966, p.24 & ill. Wells 1984, p.14 Adkins & Dickinson 1991, pp.161, 365 & ill.
Marien Trompet, RCM 244: detail of pegbox 194
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Marien Trompet, RCM 244 195
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RCM 289 Trompette Marine Sébastien Renault, Paris, late 18th century Inscriptions Top end of front, stamped: RENAULT On inside of back near bottom, in white chalk: 128{4} [or] {H} [?dealer’s number] Brief description Trompette marine constructed in four sections, the neck and soundbox each in two sections which could be dismantled Dimensions : 1980 : lower body 639, upper body 567, lower neck 371, upper neck and pegbox 403 : at tail 221 (less moulding), at top of body 124, at joint in neck 97.5 : at tail 221, at block 88 : 1572 (to centre of bridge plate) Description Front two-piece, of fine to medium grain ?spruce, edged with double ebony and ivory chequered banding and purfling; banding also surrounds the two soundholes, which hold roses of gothic tracery made from two layers of ?vellum, the upper layers with traces of gilding. The string is hitched to the front, near the tail, through the mouth of an ebonised cherub mask with foliate wings; transverse bar under the front, beneath the mask; lower section of front has one other transverse bar, the two linked by a diagonal bar; small bar under the rose; inlaid ebony striking-plate (76 × 19.2mm; 243mm from tail) for one foot of trembling asymmetrical bridge. Upper section of soundbox has four transverse bars under the front, one running across its rose. Back of seven staves of figured maple with black lines between staves; the outer staves perpendicular to front; joints strengthened inside with narrow paper strips. The soundbox is assembled on three lightweight jointed frames, one at each end of the lower section, and one at the lower end of the upper section. At the joint the frames are linked by two iron thumbscrews. Ebonised ogee mouldings strengthen the edges of the opening at the bottom of the body. At the top the staves are attached to a block mortised to receive a pentagonal tapered tenon on the end of the lower section of the neck. Neck sections, of ?beech, are veneered in ebony edged with continuations of the chequered bandings; pegbox is ebonised and has a lion-head finial. Top of block and base of neck are carved in acanthus foliage ebonised. An ebony peg fitted with a brass cogwheel engages an iron pawl on side of pegbox. On the neck are ten inlaid ivory markers indicating where to touch the string to produce harmonics (markers 1, 3, and 5 are shorter); their distances from the nut are: 1 109
5 170.5
8 309.5
2 122
6 190.5
9 396
3 135.5
7 251.5
10 512
4 152
196
Commentary There are no liners. Instead small tapered lugs of the same wood as the front are placed at intervals along the inside of the front to stave joint. The ratchet arrangement may be an addition following a repaired split through the pegbox, the ratchet being fitted to spare the pegbox the wedging force of a conventional peg. The workmanship of cogwheel and pawl are a little inferior to the excellent workmanship of the rest of the instrument; if a modification, it is an early one. There is a plugged hole right through the neck below the string, 103mm from the nut. This may be a trace of some kind of device for altering the pitch. The two sections of neck have been permanently fixed together and inlaid patches of ebony cover the positions of the old ?screw fixings. To resist the leverage of the neck tenon in the top-block, flattened iron staples were driven in each side of the mortise to withstand splitting. The current bridge, 47mm high, 77.2mm wide, is recent and probably too high, giving too steep an angle to the string between bridge and hitching point. There is provision for another string, the guidon, on the RH side of the front, with a hole for a peg in the top block. This string, connected by a perpendicular thread to the bridge, provided a fine adjustment to the vibration of the bridge, on a similar principle to the trompette adjustment on a hurdy-gurdy. The cherub mouth through which the string is hitched is offset to the RH side by 22mm from the centre line, and is 169mm from the tail. Sébastien Renault, from Lorraine, was established in Paris from c.1765, working in partnership with François Chatelain and on his own at rue Sainte Avoy, making stringed instruments including theorbos, citterns, violins and harps; another trompette marine by him survives in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Provenance Gift of Col. The Hon. J J Astor, 1949 References Baines 1966, p.24 & ill. Grove 1980, v.19 p.227 & ill. Grove 1984, v.3 p.656 & ill. Wells 1984, p.14 Remnant 1989, p.74 & ill. Adkins & Dickinson 1991, pp.126, 161, 376–9 & ill. Baines 1992, p.341 & ill. Wells 1998, v.109 No.1294 pp.148–9 & ill. Grove 2001, v.25 p.843 & ill.
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Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, RCM 289; see also colour plates, p.16 197
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Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, RCM 289: detail of pegbox
Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, RCM 289: detail of upper rose
Trompette marine, Sébastien Renault, RCM 289: detail of inside of body 198
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H- O H-
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RCM 117 Vielle à Roue French, 17th century Inscriptions None Brief description Vielle à roue (hurdy-gurdy) with straight-sided tapering soundbox and lower end of bow-shaped outline. Dimensions : 620, without handle and crank 572 : at upper end of body 203, at tail 241 : c.150 : at tail 99, at top-block: 65 : 129 : chanterelles 322, bourdons c.368, trompette and mouche c.353 Description Originally with six strings: two chanterelles, gros bourdon, bourdon, trompette and mouche. Front, one-piece, of bent poplar; two soundholes of drop-shaped piercings in a geometric pattern with borders of incised lines. Ribs, tailblock and one-piece flat back of poplar; back and front overlap ribs. Two baluster-turned stays of poplar between upper corners of soundbox and pegbox. Neck section, under keybox, has back wall hinged to form a toolbox. Much use of treenails throughout construction. Pegbox, of a ?fruit-wood, cut and hollowed from one piece; seven later tuning pegs, four of them added since 1896. Key-box of ?poplar with arched and hollowed hinged lid (now on screwed brass hinges, but holes indicate original wire hinges of coil-and-staple form). Later turn-button of tortoiseshell pivoted on a nail. Nineteen keys; compass (assuming an open string tuned to g1): ♯, a1, ♯, b1, c2, ♯, d2, ♯, e2, f 2, ♯, g2, ♯, a2, ♯, b2, c3, d3, e3. One-piece beech sliders and touch-pieces for both naturals and accidentals; tangents and nut of ?hornbeam. Wheel of ?boxwood; S-shaped crank with boxwood handle; wheel cover missing. Oil hole between end of keybox and position of bridge. Tailpiece of slightly figured maple or poplar, nailed to lower block; trompette adjustment peg, of ?hornbeam. Small peg on front to hitch the trompette string away from the wheel. Much incised decoration: straight lines, serpentine and scrolling. The instrument was originally clear-varnished but later covered with a coat of brown paint, now worn. Commentary An extra drone string has been added in the keybox, tuned by an added central peg in the pegbox. There is a charred and hollowed area at the top end of the keybox cover where some identifying decoration may have been removed; this cover also has later naïve carvings: a tree in a pot, a bird, and heart. These changes, the re-varnishing and present pegs may all date from the same time, when what was originally a refined instrument underwent a crude modification, perhaps for an itinerant musician. It is also possible that at some point the instrument was simplified to just one or two melody strings and the single later drone. 200
All the nuts and bridges of the original drones are missing so the string lengths are imprecise. The chanterelle bridge is also missing: the string length given is twice the distance from nut to octave tangent. The trompette adjustment peg in the tailpiece is probably original and could represent the style of the original tuning pegs. Other examples of this early type survive, for example in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London and Musée de la Musique, Paris. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXIV Palmer 1980, pp.128 & 232 Wells 1984, p.11
Vielle à roue, French, RCM 117: back of pegbox and upper part of neck
Vielle à roue, French, RCM 117: upper part of back and lower part of neck
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Vielle à roue, French, RCM 117
Vielle à roue, French, RCM 117: interior of keybox
Vielle à roue, French, RCM 117: lower part of front, showing peg in tailpiece 201
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RCM 123 Vielle à Roue Varquain, Paris, 1742 Inscriptions Inside keybox lid: VARQUAIN, ruë & carre-four de Bussi, F.S. Germain. à Paris. 1742. Engraved on mother-of-pearl plaque on LH side of keybox: VARQUAIN / A. PARIS 1742 Brief Description Hurdy-gurdy in lute form (vielle en luth) Dimensions : 722, without crank and handle 667 : 520 : 297½ : 134 : 223 : 172 : chanterelles 345, bourdons 405, trompette and mouche 393 Description Six strings. Front gently arched, mahogany, with a Cshaped soundhole each side at tail; edged with black and white chequered banding and a line of purfling. Three transverse frames under front, pegged through front and ribs, one each side of wheel and another at approximately note d 2 of keyboard. Back of twelve ribs of alternate bird’s-eye maple and ?kingwood; no lines between ribs; maple top-block to which ribs are fixed with pairs of pegs. Pegbox finial a male head with bold drooping moustache;
recessed carved panels on sides and front of pegbox with scallop shells at lower ends. Trompette adjustment peg of ivory with ebony insert; inlaid striking-plate for trompette bridge. Keybox cover, wheel-cover and tailpiece decorated with marquetry in mother-of-pearl and ebony; thirteen naturals and ten accidentals; tangents of fruit-wood, sliders of ?ebony with ivory touch-plates on the accidentals. Paper strip on LH side of keybox with note names in ink (earlier version underneath in red ink): la si ut re mi fa sol la ut re mi fa. Keybox lid of ?cherry, attached with two wire coil hinges. To raise pitch of trompette there is a rotating dital on front in the form of a vertical ebony tuning peg with a flag-like insert which acts as a nut; ivory peg for hitching trompette away from wheel. All bridges and nuts (except later chanterelle nut) topped with ivory. String and peg for retaining wheel-cover. Individual hitch ‘eyes’ for drones at tail. Ivory buttons for strap on each side at tail and at top-block. Commentary The original chanterelle nut is missing but its position is marked on the keybox edges. Varquain worked at rue de Bussy from 1742–61. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXV Baines 1966, p.26 & ill. Palmer 1980, p.232
Vielle à roue, Varquain, RCM 123: front [above] and front with keybox open and wheel-cover removed [below]
202
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RCM 228 Vielle à Roue Roullau, Paris, 1742 Inscriptions Label under soundholes: fait par roullau / dans S t. je{an} de / latran aparis 1742 Handwritten on inside of keybox lid in ink: faitte par Roullau dens / S t. jens de latrans aparis 1742 Brief Description Hurdy-gurdy in lute-form (vielle en luth). Dimensions : 591, without handle and crank 534 : 350 : 296½ : 199 : 95 : 153 : 123½ : chanterelles 299½, bourdons c.330, trompette and mouche, c.328 (nuts missing for drones) Description Six strings originally. Front slightly arched, mahogany, with two C-shaped soundholes at tail; edging of ebony and ivory chequered banding with double line of purfling. Front pegged to two transverse frames, their ends doublepegged through edge ribs of back; one frame just on the tail-side of main bridge, the other under key for g♯ 2. Back of thirteen ribs of alternately figured maple and a black (?stained) wood; edge ribs of half-width, unusual prolongation of ribs onto short semi-neck between body and pegbox. Pegbox of service-wood or pear; finial a female head with earrings, plumed hat and painted eyebrows. Recessed panels in front and sides of pegbox incised with diaper pattern enclosing punched stars, with
scallop-shells in low relief at lower ends. Pearwood keybox sides with decoration of punched flowers and incised lines. Limewood cover to keybox with two coil-and-staple hinges, and turn-button latch of turned ivory. Ebony sliders with bone touch-pieces for accidentals; ?holly tangents. Sliders drilled for two chanterelles; the LH one has been removed and the space used for four later iron sympathetic strings. A small crude wrestpin block was glued to the platform that carries the chanterelle nut, with four bone wrestpins and an iron wire staple nut. These strings are hitched to nails in the tailpiece; one is in the disused chanterelle hole. LH chanterelle notch in bridge filled. All bridges except for trompette present. Both drone nuts missing; trompette adjustment peg in tailpiece broken. Walnut wheel-cover veneered in ebony framed with double lines of bone, enclosing five mother-of-pearl inlays; two holes for retaining cord. Tailpiece and keybox cover decorated in the same style. Paired ivory hitchplates for drones. RH strap-button of ivory at tail; LH one missing. Plugged hole in back for the upper strap-button with a later boxwood one at bottom of pegbox. Paper strip, on LH side of keybox, marking the diatonic notes: la si ut ré mi fa sol la si ut re mi f a so. Traces of an earlier strip marked in red ink. Thirteen sliders for naturals, ten for accidentals. Hole for peg to hitch trompette away from wheel; no provision for raising its pitch. Commentary The alterations are crude; the sympathetic strings, with impractical pegs, are almost untunable. The cover is crudely recessed to clear them. Provenance Given by Sir George Donaldson (according to 1926 list by A H Frere), after 1899 References Palmer 1980, p.232
Vielle à roue, Roullau, RCM 228
Vielle à roue, Roullau, RCM 228: detail of handwritten inscription on keyboard lid 203
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RCM 119 Vielle à Roue François Feury, Paris, c.1760 Inscription Brand on RH side of keybox: F•FEURY• / A•PARIS Brief description Hurdy-gurdy in lute form (vielle en luth) Dimensions : 644 : 477 : 275 : 141 : 212 : 171 : chanterelles c.327, bourdons c.376, trompette and mouche c.373 Description Six strings. Compass of 24 notes, g1 to g 3; 23 keys. Front two-piece of arched mahogany, with two C-shaped soundholes at tail. Purfling and edge-banding of ivory and ebony with multiple black and white lines between chequers. ?Pearwood wheel; later crank with brass handle. Replacement chanterelle bridge; original was pegged to front. Tailpiece missing; it was held by two
treenails. Back of nine ribs of alternate mahogany and maple with figure of narrow curl. Wheel-cover and all drone bridges and nuts missing. Trompette had flag peg for raising pitch and a hitching post to take it off the wheel. Keybox of maple with limewood lid veneered in ebony; lid hinged with coil-and-staple wire hinges. Pegbox of ?pearwood; finial a female head with five-petalled flower diadem and hair covered with scallop-shell hat. Sides and front of pegbox have incised diaper pattern, punchings and scallop shells in low relief. Platform for the nut in keybox missing. Ivory sliders for accidentals with bone touch-pieces; sliders and touch-pieces of naturals are of ebony; fruit-wood tangents. Two buttons at tail for neckstrap. Nut, nut platform and tailpiece missing. Commentary François Feury (Ferry, Fleury, born 1711 or earlier, died after 1772) worked at rue des Fossez and rue de l’ArbreSec, St Germain de l’Auxerrois, making violins, basses and guitars as well as vielles à roue. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXIV
Vielle à roue, François Feury, RCM 119
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RCM 120 Vielle à Roue French, 18th or 19th century Inscriptions None Brief description Guitar-shaped hurdy-gurdy (vielle en guitare); composite Dimensions : 648, without handle and crank 599 : 438 : upper bouts 186.5, middle bouts 172, lower bouts 229 : max. 77.5, min. 55 : 107 : 183 : 147 : chanterelles c.293 (bridge missing and nut loose), bourdons c.346, trompette and mouche c.336 (bridges and nuts missing) Description Six strings. Compass two octaves: thirteen natural keys, ten accidentals. Front one-piece, of open-grained mahogany, with black and white chequered edging and double purfling; two C-shaped soundholes at bottom of front. Striped ribs of black wood separated with white lines; eight black strips at widest point. Marquetry inlay in rib joint at tail. Vaulted back of same style, with 25 staves at widest point. Pegbox of fruit-wood, finial a female head covered with scallop-shell; sides and front of pegbox decorated with diaper pattern, punched flowers and scallop-shells in relief at the lower ends. Six pegs with
ivory buttons. Keybox of mahogany dovetailed at end near wheel; cover of ?lime with two coil-and-staple hinges and a turn-button latch of bone. Natural keys and sliders of ebony in one piece; accidental sliders of bone with bone touch-pieces fitted to rounded tenons. Triangular-section moveable nut. Wheel of ?boxwood, turned by S-shaped crank of iron with chamfered edges; ivory handle. Main bridge and wheel-cover missing. Bone and ebony arabesque marquetry on key-cover and tailpiece. One fixed and one rotating tangent to pinch and raise pitch of trompette; turned peg in front to hitch trompette away from wheel. Very faint note names above natural sliders on RH side of keybox. All bridges and drone nuts missing; six accidental key touches missing. Commentary An 18th-century vaulted guitar back has been re-used to make a hurdy-gurdy, possibly in the 19th century. Marquetry portions from guitar neck and pegbox have been re-used; they could be from the same guitar as they match the inserted strip in rib joint at tail. The two-part construction of the heel of the pegbox also points to reuse; furthermore the thin back and ribs are lighter than usual while the front is comparatively coarser and heavier. The trompette adjustment peg and the neck-strap button from under the pegbox have exchanged positions. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXV Baines 1966, p.26 & ill. Palmer 1980, p.232
Vielle à roue, French, RCM 120 205
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RCM 381 Vielle à Roue Pajot, Jenzat, second half of the 19th century Inscriptions Brand on side of keybox: ANCIENNE MAISON / PAJOT / A JENZA{T} Brief Description Hurdy-gurdy in lute form (vielle en luth) with four sympathetic strings Dimensions : 732, without handle and crank 676 : 537 : 336 : 166 : 177 : chanterelles 354, bourdons c.420, trompette and mouche 424 Description Six strings. Front one-piece, of slab-cut maple with twopart C-shaped soundholes at tail. Complex edge decoration, consisting of chequered band edging of bone and ebony, alternate discs and tablets of engraved and coloured mother-of-pearl set in ebony, a line of elaborate purfling, red painted bands of wave-form, and a painted band of opposed black and red semicircles within black lines (similar bands on keybox and pegbox). Two ?later transfers of fashionably dressed female figures, one each side of keybox on front and another of a ?child at tail. Iron crank with porcelain handle. Tailpiece with trompette adjustment peg of ?lime veneered with mother-of-pearl
and ebony marquetry, and outlined with elaborate purfling; fastened by two treenails. Back of nine ribs, maple and rosewood alternating, with purfling between; maple ribs have red geometric patterning at edges, central maple rib has a band of floral ornament; capping-strip of maple and rosewood marquetry, with simple pattern of birds and foliage. Finial a female head wearing narrow band or coronet; cheeks and eyebrows painted. Thirteen natural keys and ten accidentals, g 1 to g3; naturals have sliders and touch-plates of ebony, one-piece; accidentals have bone sliders with bone touch-plates on round tenons. Keybox cover and wheel-cover are crude later replacements. Sympathetic strings have small wrestpin block at top of first rib on RH side; four wrestpins, two slotted, two drilled; hitchpin holes for sympathetic strings in the capping-strip are plugged and no bridge survives. Turned bobbin in front to disengage trompette. Commentary The chanterelles have individual nuts separated by a partition. There is a small turned button on inside edge of keybox at bridge end, to hitch one chanterelle away from the wheel. Jean Pajot (died 1847) began making hurdy-gurdies in Jenzat c.1795 and was succeeded by his son Gilbert (died 1853), who established the firm, and grandson JeanBaptiste I (died 1863), ‘the Stradivari of the vielle’; further generations carried on the firm up to 1939. Provenance Gift of the Royal Academy of Music, 1981 References None located
Vielle à roue, Pajot, RCM 381
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RCM 106 Small Vielle à Roue Errard, Mâcon, ?second quarter of 19th century Inscriptions Stamped on LH side of keybox and inside cover: ERRARD / A MACON Brief description Small hurdy-gurdy (vielle à roue) with guitar outline Dimensions : 392, without crank and handle 361 : 252 : upper bouts 118.5, middle bouts 98, lower bouts 149 : at neck joint 46, at tail 53 : 87.5 : chanterelle 182, bourdons 203, trompette and mouche 198 (see below)
Description Front one-piece, of plain maple, with two C-shaped soundholes at tail. Back and ribs of plain maple; single lines of painted purfling on edges of front, back and ribs. Eleven keys. Original disposition unclear: perhaps one chanterelle, two bourdons and trompette. Commentary There are only four pegs but there are bridges and other fittings for six strings. This suggests that the instrument was made as a toy for a child rather than as a fully functioning vielle à roue. A similar small hurdy-gurdy by Errard survives in the Musée de la Musique, Paris (E.2511) and another in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXX Palmer 1980, pp.149 & 232
Small vielle à roue, Errard, RCM 106
207
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RCM 122 Vielle Organisée César Pons, Grenoble, late 18th century Inscriptions Illegible ink inscription on inside of tangent cover. Partially erased brand on keybox side: C{...}P{...} [only the initial letters legible] Brief Description Vielle organisée (organized hurdy-gurdy) with guitar-form body; composite and modified Dimensions : 799, without handle and crank 751 : 585 : upper bouts 288, middle bouts 255, lower bouts 334 : at tail 227, at neck 173 : 237 : 326 : 340 (nut to octave tangent 167) Description Front, mahogany, in two sections; tail section, holding wheel and bridges, is arched; remainder of front is flat; double-purfled with chequered edge-banding. Two Cshaped soundholes at tail. Rib on exposed side is of five strips, three of maple and two of ?satinwood, separated by holly and ebony lines. Rib on player’s side is of one piece of walnut; ebony strip in rib joint at tail. Detachable walnut baseboard. Pegbox finial a male head with inset eyes and teeth of glass and bone. Sides of pegbox have conventional diaper incising, punchings and scallop-shell decoration. Four of the pegs and one of the pipe stoppers have later cut-glass additions. The hurdy-gurdy portion of the instrument appears to be a conventional six-stringed instrument, with pegs for four drones and two chanterelles, but in fact the pegbox, wheel, crank and some other parts are re-used from another instrument. Only three pegs were used, for one chanterelle and two drones in the positions of the mouche and trompette, but not necessarily tuned as such; the organ pipes do not allow room for bourdons on their side of the instrument. At some time wire sympathetic strings were added beside the single chanterelle. There are 24 note names in ink on the cover shared by the tangents and organ pallet box. The organ part consists of two stops, one of 23 stopped pipes and the other of 24 open pipes. Both stops are constructed in pan-pipe fashion so that the pipes are formed by separators glued between shared, one-piece front- and back-boards. The two ranks of pipes are laid on top of each other back to back on the RH side of the keybox with the open pipes below, mouths facing downwards, and the stopped pipes above, with mouths facing upwards. The open pipes are tuned at slots on the underside with wood or paper shading or with partial stopping. Eleven of the lowest stopped pipes have a mitred portion to reduce the width of the instrument. Scaling: open pipes: g1 130mm long, 17.7mm wide, 27.7mm deep; g3 36mm long, 5.3mm wide, 11.5mm deep;
208
stopped pipes: g1 14.5mm wide, 28.5mm deep; f 3 7.3mm wide, 13.7mm deep. The keybox holds 24 key-sliders; the one nearest the nut has no tangent and only plays the lowest note of the organ, which was at the pitch of the chanterelle. A windchest and pallet-box are set vertically parallel to the keybox so that the ends of the key-sliders engage the stickers to open the pallets. Wind is grooved to the pipes below the keybox. The slides can be moved by ivory stopknobs protruding below the pallet-box on the player’s side. The component layers of the organ are held in position by hooks and eyes and one screw at the side of pegbox. Wind is supplied by two single-fold wedge bellows feeding a spring-loaded single-fold wedge reservoir and is delivered to the pallet box via the hollow shoulder of the pegbox. In this cavity is the tremblant doux, a tremulant utilising a trembling, weighted pallet in the windway, which is brought into play by an iron draw-stop rod. Originally the bellows were worked by connecting rods driven by the wheel crank but the instrument was later modified for foot-blowing with a strap connecting the bellows through a hole in the baseboard to some kind of treadle. The bellows were opened by the treadle and closed by springs added between the baseboard and the bellows. Commentary Composite and much modified. Between the wheel and the end of the keybox are traces of fixings for a mechanism (original) which could lift the drones and chanterelle simultaneously from the wheel so that the organ played alone. The hurdy-gurdy portion was gradually reduced until finally it was de-strung and the end of the keybox blocked up, so the instrument probably ended its active life as a small foot-pumped organ. César Pons (1743–1831) was born in Paris and moved to Grenoble, where he made violins, guitars, lyre-guitars and hurdy-gurdies. He claimed to have invented the vielle organisée; an example dated 1770 survives in the Musée des Instruments de Musique, Brussels (Vannes 1972, p.285). The vielle organisée was popular for a short period, mainly in France, and amongst those who composed for it were Gyrowetz and Pleyel; Haydn’s Concerti and Notturni for two lire organizzate, were written to the commission of Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, in 1786–7. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXV Galpin 1928, p.882 Baines 1966, p.26 & ill. Wells 1984, p.11 Palmer 1980, pp.157 & 232
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Vielle organisée, César Pons, RCM 122
Vielle organisée, César Pons, RCM 122: plan view of stopped pipes, keybox opened, and pallet-box with front removed
Vielle organisée, César Pons, RCM 122: pallet-box and windchest assembly showing stickers and slides 209
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RCM 121 Vielle Organisée French, c.1760 Inscriptions Illegible handwritten text on paper inside keybox lid Brief Description Vielle organisée (organized hurdy-gurdy) in cabinet form; now incomplete Dimensions : 587 : 529 : 252 : 339 : chanterelle c.346 (nut position to octave fret c.173), bourdons c.388, trompette and mouche c.376 Description Mahogany-veneered case which originally had a hurdygurdy mounted on the top-board. Only the key mechanism and crank of the hurdy-gurdy have been retained to provide an air supply and keyboard for the organ. A symmetrical array of 24 stopped pipes forms the front and the other rank of 24 open pipes is integral with the underside of the baseboard. The wind is supplied by a single bellows, driven by the crank of the hurdy-gurdy, feeding a spring-loaded reservoir. The hurdy-gurdy was arranged in two rectangular boxes with hinged lids; one contained a modified tailpiece and trompette adjustment peg, and the other the tangents, key-sliders, and a pegbox. The end of the pegbox pulls out to allow access to the shafts of the pegs for stringing, and the pegs, now missing,
must have been turned by some kind of tuning-key because of limited space. Full set of drones and a single chanterelle; conventional pair of hitchplates for the drones on the end of the case. 24 keys, operating 23 tangents, g 1 to g 3; the first key plays only the lowest organ note. The tangents are extended below their key-sliders to engage pivoted brass levers which act on the pallets at the bottom of the case, via a fan-wise arrangement of stickers. Both sets of pipes are formed by separators between shared front- and back-boards, in pan-pipe fashion. The front pipes have false ornamental stoppers with perforated working stoppers below. There are two ebony-handled stop-levers behind the show-pipes. Scaling of open pipes: g 170.5mm long, 17.9mm wide, 27mm deep, 5.2mm mouth height; g2 41mm long, 6mm wide, 12.5mm deep, 2.8mm mouth height. The case has canted front corners and inlay of black lines. Under the central stopped pipe is a mother-of-pearl inlay and a pendant ormolu finial. The instrument stands on four turned feet; there are attachments for a neck-strap. Commentary When the wheel of the hurdy-gurdy was discarded, its slot was filled in and the gap between keybox and tailbox was filled with pieces of the original wheel cover. The wheel diameter would have been c.130mm. The furniture style of the casework suggests that the instrument was made in the 1760s. Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Donaldson 1896, pl.XXXV Palmer 1980, pp.35, 157 & 232
Vielle organisée, French, RCM 121 210
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T T B R I
211-224
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211-224
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Translation of Terms* English Viol Body Belly (UK) Table (US) Front Back Ribs Bouts Rose Soundholes Purfling Inlay Neck Head Scroll Pegbox Tuning Pegs Fingerboard Tailpiece Hookbar Bridge String Nut Fret Soundpost Bassbar Label Varnish Endpin, Spike Arched Block Nail Fold Soundpost plate Gut Arching Lining Bow Hair Frog, Heel Chin Rest
German die Gambe, die Viola da Gamba der Corpus die Decke
French la viole, viole de gambe la caisse de resonance la table d’harmonie
Italian la viola da gamba la cassa armonica la tavola armonica
die Boden die Zargen der Bügel die Rose die Schallöcher die Ader die Einlage der Hals der Kopf die Schnecke der Wirbelkasten die Wirbel das Griffbrett der Saitenhalter der Pflock der Steg die Saite der Obersattel der Bund der Stimmstock der Bassbalken der Zettel der Lack der Stachel gewölbt die Eckklötz; der Oberklötze der Unterklötz der Nagel der Knick das Stimmbrett der Darm die Wölbung die Bereifung, das Reifchen der Bogen das Haar der Frosch der Kinnhalter
le dos, le fond les éclisses, les côtes les écranchures, les C la rosace les ouïes le filet le marqueterie, l’incrustation le manche la téte la volute, le coquillon le cheviller les chevilles la touche le cordier le tenon le chevalet la corde le sillet la frette, la ligature l’âme la barre l’etiquette le vernis la pique voûté le tasseau
il fondo la fasce la fascie rosetta gli occhi, i fiori armonici il filetto l’intarsio il manico la testa il riccio, la chiocciola, la voluta la cavigliera, la cassetta di piroli il piroli, i bischeri, le caviglie la tastiera la cordiera il cavicchio il ponticello la corda il capotasto il tasto, il legaccio l’anima la catena l’etichetta la vernice il puntale, il bottone bombato il tassello; lo zocchetto
le clou la pliure du fond le pont de l’äme boyeau la voûte la contre-éclisse l’archet le crin la hausse, le talon la mentonnière
il chiodo la piega la piastra la minugia, il budello la bombatura la contrafascia l’arco il crine il tallone, il nassetto la mentoniera
*Adapted from The Italian Viola da Gamba, edited by Susan Orlando (la Borie: Edition Ensemble Baroque de Limoges and Edizioni Manzoni, 2002), by kind permission of Susan Orlando.
213
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Bibliographical References Technical Drawings, © RCM: Chitarrone, Magnus Tieffenbrucker, Venice, 1608, RCM 26, drawing by Ian Harwood, 1974, revised 1977 Cittern, Gieronimo Campi, Italian, late 16th century, RCM 48, drawing by Ian Harwood, 1974 Guitar, Belchior Dias, Lisbon, 1581, RCM 171, drawing with additional notes by Stephen Barber, 1976 Guitar, attributed to René Voboam, Paris, c.1650, RCM 32, drawing with additional notes by Stephen Barber, 1979 [formerly attributed to Jean Voboam, c.1680] Division viol, Barak Norman, London, 1692, RCM 46, drawing by Stephen Barber, 1976 Abbreviations AMIS: Journal of the American Musical Instrument Society, published annually in New York from 1975 and continuing Chelys: Chelys, published annually by the Viola da Gamba Society in England from 1969 and continuing Early Music: Early Music, published quarterly by Oxford University Press from 1973 and continuing FoMRHI: Bulletin of the Fellowship of Makers and Restorers of Historical Instruments, published quarterly in England from 1975–2002
Antonioni 1996: Giovanni Antonioni, Dizionario dei costruttori di strumenti a pizzico in Italia dal XV al XX secolo (Cremona: Turris, 1996) Armstrong 1908: Robert Bruce Armstrong, Musical Instruments, Part II. English and Irish Instruments (Edinburgh: T. & A. Constable, 1908) Arriaga 2004: Gerardo Arriaga, ‘The vihuela books and the CD ROM facsimile project’, Lute News, 71 (October 2004) Baines 1966: Anthony Baines, European and American Musical Instruments (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966) Baines 1968: Anthony Baines, Victoria and Albert Museum Catalogue of Musical Instruments Volume II, Non-Keyboard Instruments (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1968) Baines 1992: Anthony Baines, Oxford Companion to Musical Instruments (London: B T Batsford Ltd, 1992) Barber 1982: Stephen Barber, ‘A Six Course Lute by Magno Dieffopruchar’, The Lute, XXII/2 (1982) Barnett 1998: Gregory Barnett, ‘The Violoncello da Spalla: Shouldering the Cello in the Baroque Era’, AMIS, XXIV (1998) Batov 2004: Alexander Batov, ‘Vihuela building: some recent discoveries and personal thoughts’, Lute News, 71 (October 2004) Batov 2006: Alexander Batov, ‘The Royal College Dias: guitar or vihuela?’, Lute News, 77 (April 2006)
GSJ: The Galpin Society Journal, published annually in England from 1948 and continuing
Bellow 1970: Alexander Bellow, The Illustrated History of the Guitar (New York: Belwin/Mills, 1970)
Liuteria: Liuteria, Quarterly Journal of the Associazione Liutaria Italiana, Cremona
Bletschacher 1978: Richard Bletschacher, Die Lauten-und Geigenmacher des Füssener Landes (Hofhaim am Taunus: 1978)
The Lute: The Lute, Journal of the Lute Society, published annually in England from 1959 and continuing
Boalch 1995: Donald H Boalch, edited by Charles Mould, Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord 1440–1840, 3rd edition (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995)
MII: Musique, Images, Instruments [Revue française d’organologie et d’iconographie musical], published annually by CNRS Editions in Paris from 1995 and continuing The Strad: The Strad, Journal published monthly in England from 1890 and continuing
Boyden 1969: David Boyden, Catalogue of the Hill Collection of Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum and W E Hill & Sons, 1969)
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George Donaldson (aged 33): pencil and crayon drawing (1878) by Frederick Sandys (1829–1904) © Michael Mott Collection 218
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Indexes References to colour plates are printed in bold. RCM number RCM 5: Book harmonium, 150 RCM 6: Guitar, 109–11, 9 RCM 9: Lute, 56–7 RCM 10: Lute (formerly chitarrone), 64–5 RCM 13: Lute, 54–5 RCM 14: Mandolone, 81 RCM 16: Guitar, 118–19, 10 RCM 17: Mandolino, 74–5 RCM 18: Mandolino, 74–5 RCM 19: Brescian mandolin, 77 RCM 20: Chitarra battente, 126 RCM 21: English guitar, 94 RCM 22: Guitar, 115–17, 10 RCM 23: Guitar-cittern, 127 RCM 25: Chitarrone, 66–7 RCM 26: Chitarrone, 60–3, 6 RCM 27: Hamburger Cithrinchen, 92–3, 8 RCM 28: Neapolitan mandolin, 78 RCM 29: Philomele, 172 RCM 31: Violin, 154–5, 13 RCM 32: Guitar, 112–4, 9 RCM 33: Viola d’amore, 146–7 RCM 34: Viola d’amore, 144 RCM 35: Viola d’amore, 145 RCM 36: Violin, 159 RCM 37: Pochette, 189 RCM 38: Pochetto d’amore, 192 RCM 39: Pochette, 186–7, 15 RCM 40: Pochette, 178–9 RCM 42: Kit, 188 RCM 43: Mute violin, 156 RCM 44: Bass viol, 140–1, 12 RCM 46: Division viol, 138–9, 12 RCM 48: Cittern, 88–91, 7 RCM 49: Cello neck and pegbox, 170 RCM 50: Philomele, 171 RCM 52: Lira da braccio, 152 RCM 53: Viola, 166–7 RCM 54: Violin, 158 RCM 55: Pochette, 180 RCM 56: Pochette, 183 RCM 57: Pochette, 191 RCM 58: Epinette des Vosges, 30 RCM 59: Pochette, 190 RCM 60: Pochette, 182 RCM 61: Pochette, 181 RCM 104: Spitzharfe, 18–21, 1 RCM 105: Guitar, 108 RCM 106: Vielle à roue, small, 207 RCM 107: Mandolino, 70–1 RCM 108: Portable Irish Harp, 50–2, 2 RCM 109: Mandolino, 72 RCM 110: Mandolino, 73 RCM 114: Pedal harp, 40–1, 3 RCM 117: Vielle à roue, 200–1 RCM 118: Spitzharfe, 22–3 RCM 119: Vielle à roue, 204 RCM 120: Vielle à roue, 205 RCM 121: Vielle organisée, 210 RCM 122: Vielle organisée, 208–9 RCM 123: Vielle à roue, 202 RCM 124: Salterio, 24–5 RCM 126: Harp-lute, 132 RCM 127: Streichmelodion, 32 RCM 130: Machete, 125 RCM 131: Fiddle, 175 RCM 134: Lyre guitar, 128, 11
RCM 135: Svenskluta, 82 RCM 141: Guitar, 106–7 RCM 149: Pardessus de viole, 142–3 RCM 151: Torban, 83 RCM 161: English guitar, 97 RCM 162: Balalaika, 85 RCM 163: Zither, 31 RCM 165: Mandoline, 76 RCM 166: Harp-guitar, 129 RCM 167: Guitar, 120 RCM 170: Guitar, 122 RCM 171: Guitar, ix, 102–5, 8 RCM 172: Guitar, 123 RCM 173: Guitar, 121 RCM 174: Pochette, 184 RCM 180: Harpsichord, 58 RCM 182: Violin, quarter-size, 161 RCM 184: Treble viol, 134–5, 11 RCM 185: Viola in viol form (?formerly viol), 168 RCM 186: Violin, 160 RCM 190: Pochette, 185 RCM 199: Pedal harp, 42–3, 4 RCM 200: Lute, 68–9 RCM 203: Lute (formerly ?chitarrone) 58–9 RCM 204: Baryton, 148–9, 13 RCM 206: Bass viol, 136–7 RCM 208: Double dulcimer, 26–8, 2 RCM 212: Rebecchino, 173 RCM 213: Tambourin de Béarn, 33 RCM 228: Vielle à roue, 203 RCM 241: English guitar, 100 RCM 244: Marien Trompet, 194–5 RCM 255: Neapolitan mandolin, 79 RCM 260: Small harp, 36–7 RCM 283: Violin, sixteenth-size, 161 RCM 284: British lute-harp, 130–1 RCM 286: Bandura, 84 RCM 289: Trompette marine, 196–8, 16 RCM 291: Hardingfele, 150 RCM 295: Welsh triple harp, 21, 38–9, 5 RCM 297: Aeolian harp, 34 RCM 298: Pedal harp, 44–6, 5 RCM 308: Cimbalom, 28–9 RCM 309: Pedal harp, 47 RCM 314: Balalaika, 86 RCM 315: English guitar, 96 RCM 316: Neapolitan mandolin, 80 RCM 331: English guitar, 98 RCM 332: English guitar, 99 RCM 333: English guitar, 95 RCM 344: Epinette des Vosges, 30 RCM 346: Violin, 157 RCM 347: Viola, 162–3, 15 RCM 350: Viola, 164–5, 14 RCM 351: Cello, 169 RCM 364: Aeolian harp, 34 RCM 366: Violin, sixteenth-size, 161 RCM 373: Pedal harp, 48–9 RCM 374: Neapolitan mandolin, 80 RCM 380: Gusle, 174 RCM 381: Vielle à roue, 206 RCM 390: Fiddle, 176 RCM 487: Guitar, 124 RCM 497: Harp stock-books of the London firm of Erard, ix, 44, 46 RCM 535: Neapolitan mandolin, 79
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Makers, dealers and repairers Anonymous: Aeolian Harp, RCM 297, 34 Balalaika, RCM 162, 85 Balalaika, RCM 314, 86 Bandura, RCM 286, 84 Cello neck and pegbox, RCM 49, 170 Chitarra battente, RCM 20, 126 Chitarrone, RCM 25, 66–7 English guitar, RCM 241, 100 Epinette des Vosges, RCM 58, 30 Fiddle, RCM 131, 175 Fiddle, RCM 390, 176 Guitar, RCM 22, 115–17, 10 Guitar, RCM 105, 108 Guitar, RCM 170, 122 Gusle, RCM 380, 174 Harp, small, RCM 260, 36–7 Kit, RCM 42, 188 Lute, RCM 200, 68–9 Machete, RCM 130, 125 Mandolin, Neapolitan, RCM 255, 79 Mandolin, Neapolitan, RCM 316, 80 Mandolin, Neapolitan, RCM 535, 79 Mandolone, RCM 14, 81 Marien Trompet, RCM 244, 194–5 Philomele, RCM 29, 172 Philomele, RCM 50, 171 Pochette, RCM 37, 189 Pochette, RCM 39, 186–7, 15 Pochette, RCM 55, 180 Pochette, RCM 56, 183 Pochette, RCM 57, 191 Pochette, RCM 59, 190 Pochette, RCM 60, 182 Pochette, RCM 61, 181 Pochette, RCM 174, 184 Pochette, RCM 190, 185 Rebecchino, RCM 212, 173 Spitzharfe, RCM 104, 18–21, 1 Spitzharfe, RCM 118, 22–3 Streichmelodion, RCM 127, 32 Tambourin de Béarn, RCM 213, 33 Torban, RCM 151, 83 Vielle à roue, RCM 117, 200–1 Vielle à roue, RCM 120, 205 Vielle organisée, RCM 121, 210 Viol, treble, RCM 184, 134–5, 11 Viola, RCM 347, 162–3, 15 Viola d’amore, RCM 34, 144 Violin, RCM 31, 154–5, 13 Violin (lacquered), RCM 186, 160 Violin, mute, RCM 43, 156 Violin, quarter-size, RCM 182, 161 Violin, sixteenth-size, RCM 283, 161 Violin, sixteenth-size, RCM 366, 161 Zither, RCM 163, 31 Barbi, Michele: Salterio, RCM 124, 24–5 Beare, J&A: Baryton, RCM 204, 148–9, 13 (repaired) Beckman, Sveno (Sven): Guitar-cittern, RCM 23, 127 Braddyll, H Stanley: Viola, RCM 347, 162–3, 15 (bridge) Campi, Girolamo: Cittern, RCM 48, 88–91, 7 Catenar, Henrico (Henricus Casner): Viola, RCM 350, 164–5, 14 Colin (Collin): Guitar, RCM 167, 120 Cousineau, Georges: Pedal harp, RCM 114, 40–1, 3 Pedal harp, RCM 199, 42–3, 4 Cousineau, Jacques-Georges: 40 Pedal harp, RCM 199, 42–3, 4 Cross, Nathaniel: 138 Treble viol, RCM 184, 134–5, 11 (repaired) David: Mandoline, RCM 165, 76 220
Dias, Belchior: RCM 171, ix, 102–5, 8 Dieffoprucher, Magno (Magnus Tieffenbrucker III): Chitarrone, RCM 26, 60–3, 6 Duiffopruggar, Gaspard: Viola, RCM 347, 162–3, 15 (spurious label) Eberle, Johann Ulrich: 144 Viola d’amore, RCM 33, 146–7 Viola d’amore, RCM 35, 145 Eberle, Wendelin (Vendelio Venere II): Lute, RCM 203, 58–9 Egan, John: Portable Irish Harp, RCM 108, 50–2, 2 Elschleger, J C: English guitar, RCM 21, 94 Erard, Sebastian (portrait 46): 42, 47, 48, 50 Pedal harp, RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Erat, Jacob and James: Pedal harp, RCM 309, 47 Errard: Vielle à roue, small, RCM 106, 207 Feldlen (Feldtle, Feldlin), Magnus: Baryton, RCM 204, 148–9, 13 Feury (Ferry, Fleury), François: Vielle à roue, RCM 119, 204 Forster, William junior: Violin, RCM 346, 157 Gallina, Joseph: Brescian mandolin, RCM 19, 77 (spurious label) Genova, Giovanni Battista: 164 Pochetto d’amore, RCM 38, 192 Gerard, Joseph: Guitar, RCM 172, 123 Grancino, Giovanni and Francesco: 169 Viola, RCM 53, 166–7 (attributed) Grandjon, Jules: Violin, RCM 36, 159 Guersan, Louis: 154 Pardessus de viole, RCM 149, 142–3 Hall, William: Viola in viol form (?formerly viol), RCM 185, 168 (repaired) Healy: Neapolitan mandolin, RCM 374, 80 Helland, Erik Johnsen: Hardingfele, RCM 291, 150 (attributed) Hill, W E & Sons: Viola in viol form, RCM 185, 168 (bridge) Howell, Thomas: Violin, RCM 54, 158 Jessup, E: Violin, sixteenth-size, RCM 366, 161 (bridge) Jones, Bassett: Welsh triple harp, RCM 295, 38–9, 5 Karlino, Joan: Lira da braccio, RCM 52, 152 (spurious label) Kessler, Dietrich: Division viol, RCM 46, 138–9, 12 (restored) Bass viol, RCM 44, 140–1, 12 (bridge & tailpiece) Kirkman, Jacob & Abraham: Harpsichord, RCM 180, 58 Lambert, A: Epinette des Vosges, 30 Lambert, Jean-Nicolas: Double dulcimer, RCM 208, 26–8, 2 Lewis, Edward: 138, 162 Bass viol, RCM 206, 136–7 (attributed) Light, Edward: Harp-guitar, RCM 166, 129 British lute-harp, RCM 284, 130–1 Longman, James: English guitar, RCM 315, 96 Lott, John: Violin, RCM 31, 154–5, 13 (?repaired) Lukey, Charles: English guitar, RCM 315, 96 Lyon, George Washburn: Neapolitan mandolin, RCM 374, 80 Mauchand, Nicolas: Lyre guitar, RCM 134, 128, 11 Mollenberg, Lorents: Svenskluta, RCM 135, 82 Norman, Barak: 134, 136, 154 Division viol, RCM 46, 138–9, 12 Otto, Carl Christian: Lute (formerly chitarrone), RCM 10, 64–5 (repaired) Packer, G: Harp-lute, RCM 126, 132 Pagés, Josef (José): 122 Guitar, RCM 173, 121 Pajot: Vielle à roue, RCM 381, 206 Panormo: 122 Lira da braccio, RCM 52, 152 (possible maker) Pasta, Gaetano: Cello, RCM 351, 169 Pons, César: Vielle organisée, RCM 122, 208–9 Preda, Antonio: Mandolino, RCM 17, 74–5 Mandolino, RCM 18, 74–5 Presbler, ?Francesco: Mandolino, RCM 109, 72 Presbler, Francesco and Giuseppe: Mandolino, RCM 110, 73 Preston, John: English guitar, RCM 161, 97 English guitar, RCM 315, 96 English guitar, RCM 331, 98 English guitar, RCM 332, 99 Rauche, Michael: 97, 98 English guitar, RCM 333, 95, Renault, Sébastien: Trompette marine, RCM 289, 196–8, 16
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Rizzio, David: Spitzharfe, RCM 104, 18–21, 1 (spurious inscription) Rolfe, William: Aeolian harp, RCM 364, 34 Roudhlof, François: Lyre guitar, RCM 134, 128, 11 Roullau: Vielle à roue, RCM 228, 203 Salaman: Spitzharfe, RCM 118, 22–3 (dealer’s label) Schelle, Sebastian: Lute (formerly chitarrone), RCM 10, 64–5 (repaired) Schunda, Venczel József: Cimbalom, RCM 308, 28–9 Sellas, Domenico: Lute (formerly chitarrone), RCM 10, 64–5 Smorsone, Giovanni: Mandolino, RCM 107, 70–1 Stadler, Jakob (Giacobus): Guitar, RCM 6, 109–11, 9 (attributed) Stumpff, Johann Andreas: Pedal harp, RCM 373, 48–9 Tesler (Tessler), Giovanni: Guitar, RCM 141, 106–7 Tieffenbrucker, Magnus III (Magno Dieffopruchar): Chitarrone, RCM 26, 60–3, 6 Tieffenbrucker, Vendelinus (Wendelin): Lute, RCM 9, 56–7 (spurious label) Tielke, Joachim: 154 Guitar, RCM 16, 118–19, 10 Hamburger Cithrinchen, RCM 27, 92–3, 8 Ulman, Adam: Lute, RCM 13, 54–5 Varquain: Vielle à roue, RCM 123, 202 Venere, Vendelio (Wendelin): Lute (formerly ?chitarrone), RCM 203, 58–9 Vinaccia, Domenico: Neapolitan mandolin, RCM 28, 78 Voboam, René: Guitar, RCM 32, 112–14, 9 (attributed) Wörle, Mathias: Pochette, RCM 40, 178–9 (attributed) Würffel, Jeremias: Bass viol, RCM 44, 140–1, 12 Zimmermann, Julius Heinrich: Guitar, RCM 487, 124 Previous owners Alexander, Mrs E P (née Wilson): RCM 297, 34 Alfred, Prince, Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Edinburgh: RCM 165, 76 RCM 184, 134–5, 11 Astor, Col. The Hon. J J: RCM 289, 196–8, 16 Band, Miss: RCM 374, 80 Blumenthal, Jacques: RCM 200, 68–9 (probably) Cameron, Miss Fanny Mary: RCM 346, 157 RCM 347, 162–3, 15 Chanot, George: 160 RCM 52, 152 RCM 53, 166–7 (possibly) Coats, George, 1st Baron Glentanar: RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Cope, Herbert: RCM 186, 160 Desborough, Vincent: RCM 364, 34 Donaldson, Sir George (portrait 218): viii, ix, xii RCM 5, 150 RCM 6, 109–11, 9 RCM 9, 56–7 RCM 10, 64–5 RCM 13, 54–5 RCM 14, 81 RCM 16, 118–19, 10 RCM 17, 74–5 RCM 18, 74–5 RCM 19, 77 RCM 20, 126 RCM 21, 94 RCM 22, 115–17, 10 RCM 23, 127 RCM 25, 66–7 RCM 26, 60–3, 6 RCM 27, 92–3, 8 RCM 28, 78 RCM 29, 172 RCM 31, 154–5, 13 RCM 32, 112–14, 9 RCM 33, 146–7 RCM 34, 145 RCM 35, 145 RCM 36, 159 RCM 37, 189 RCM 38, 192 RCM 39, 186–7, 15 RCM 40, 178–9 RCM 42, 188 RCM 43, 156 RCM 44, 140–1, 12 RCM 46, 138–9, 12 RCM 48, 88–91, 7 RCM 49, 170 RCM 50, 171 RCM 52, 152 RCM 53, 166–7 RCM 54, 158 RCM 55, 180 RCM 56, 183 RCM 57, 191 RCM 58, 30 RCM 59, 190 RCM 60, 182 RCM 61, 181 RCM 104, 18–21, 1 RCM 105, 108 RCM 106, 207 RCM 107, 70–1
RCM 108, 50–2, 2 RCM 109, 72 RCM 110, 73 RCM 114, 40–1, 3 RCM 117, 200–1 RCM 118, 22–3 RCM 119, 204 RCM 120, 205 RCM 121, 210 RCM 122, 208–9 RCM 123, 202 RCM 124, 24–5 RCM 126, 132 RCM 127, 32 RCM 130, 125 RCM 131, 175 RCM 134, 128, 11 RCM 135, 82 RCM 141, 106–7 RCM 149, 142–3 RCM 151, 83 RCM 171, 102–5, 8 RCM 190, 185 RCM 199, 42–3, 4 RCM 204, 148–9, 13 RCM 206, 136–7 RCM 208, 26–8, 2 RCM 212, 173 RCM 213, 33 RCM 228, 203 RCM 241, 100 RCM 244, 194–5 RCM 260, 36–7 (probably) Eastman, Miss: RCM 344, 30 Engel, Carl: RCM 203, 58–9 Evans, Thomas: RCM 260, 36–7 (possibly) Fleming, Amaryllis: ix Fry, Tristram: RCM 308, 28–9 Gale, Miss Ursula: RCM 316, 80 Grey, Miss: RCM 373, 48–9 Hartley, Geoffrey: ix Hickens, Mrs: RCM 351, 169 Hill, Freddy: ix Hipkins, Alfred James: viii, 66 RCM 161, 97 RCM 162, 85 RCM 170, 122 (possibly) RCM 185, 168 (possibly) RCM 186, 160 RCM 203, 58–9 RCM 255, 79 Hipkins, Edith: viii RCM 161, 97 RCM 162, 85 RCM 170, 122 (possibly) RCM 185, 168 (possibly) RCM 186, 160 RCM 203, 58–9 RCM 255, 79 Hipkins, John: viii RCM 161, 97 RCM 162, 85 RCM 170, 122 (possibly) RCM 185, 168 (possibly) RCM 186, 160 RCM 203, 58–9 RCM 255, 79 Leslie, Lady: RCM 314, 86 RCM 315, 96 Loder, George: RCM 185, 168 (possibly) Maitland, Mrs: RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Mario, Giovanni Matteo (portrait 90): RCM 48, 88–91, 7 Marno, H A M: RCM 366, 161 Marsham, Miss M E: RCM 173, 121 Mary, Queen: RCM 166, 129 Maud, Duchess of Wellington: RCM 298, 44–6, 5 de’ Medici, Prince Ferdinand: RCM 171, 102–3 (possibly) Miller, Timothy: RCM 535, 79 Musikhistoriska Museet, Stockholm: RCM 291, 150 Musikmuseet, Stockholm: RCM 291, 150 Nissen, Mrs S N R: RCM 487, 124 Priestley, J B: RCM 286, 84 Pritchard, J T: RCM 185, 168 (possibly) Reade, Charles: RCM 32, 112–14, 9 Rhys, Lady Anne: RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Ridley, E A Keane: ix Ronssecy, Mme de: RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Rossini, Gioachino (portrait 90): RCM 48, 88–91, 7 Royal Academy of Music: RCM 380, 174 RCM 381, 206 RCM 390, 176 Schultz, Edward: RCM 170, 122 (possibly) Steele-Perkins, Crispian: ix Stevens, Mr: RCM 350, 164–5, 14 (possibly) Tagore, the Rajah Sourindro Mohun: viii Thomas, General Sir Gwilym Ivor: RCM 295, 38–9, 5 221
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Thomas, John (portrait 38): RCM 260, 36–7 (possibly) RCM 295, 38–9, 5 Titian: RCM 48, 88–91, 7 (reputedly) Walrond, the Honourable Mrs Lionel (Charlotte): RCM 298, 44–6, 5 Walton, Richard: ix Wilson, Miss, later Mrs E P Alexander: RCM 297, 34 Winyates, Miss Seymour: RCM 331, 98 RCM 332, 99 RCM 333, 95 Wood, Dr Frederick: RCM 373, 48–9 Names (general references) Acworth, Mr Angus: viii Agutter, Ralph: 154 Albert, Prince: 134 Amati: 134, 166, 169 Angerero, Gioanni (Hans Angerer): 164 Angerero, widow: 164 Archilei, Vittoria: 103 Barber, Stephen: 102 Bardini, Stefano: 173 Barry, A: 129 Bartrum, Giulia: 109 Beare, Charles: 154, 162, 164, 166, 186 Beethoven, Ludwig van: 48 Bergamasco: 38 Berlioz, Hector: 38 Betts, John: 186 Borbon, Gaspar: 186 Bowcleffe, William: 134 Breit, Leopold: 32 Breughel, Jan the Elder: 134 Broadwood, James Shudi: 48 Broadwoods: viii, 48 Broderip, Francis Fane: 96 Caccini, Lucia: 103 Campi, Giuseppe: 88 Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales: 44 Cati, Antonio: 181 Cavalieri, Emilio de’: 103 Celoniato, Filippo Antonio Eugenio: 192 Celoniato, Giovanni Francesco: 192 Chatelain, François: 196 Chéron, Rober[t]: 115 Clausenius: 183 Colin (Collin), Jean: 120 Colin, Jean-François: 120 Colin, Louis: 120 Colin (Collin), Nicolas: 120 Davies, Oliver: ix Davies, William: 38 Dias, Diogo: 102 Dyson, Sir George: viii, ix Eberle, Cristoforo: 58 Edlinger, Thomas: 145 Edward VII, King: viii, 38 Egersdorfer, Hugo H: 174 Elizabeth, Queen, The Queen Mother: ix Epp, Miss: 149 Epp, Thomas: 149 Erard, Pierre (Orphée): 44 Falkner, Sir Keith: ix Ferdinand IV, King of Naples: 208 Fleischer, Catherina: 118 Fleischer, Hans Christoph: 54 Fleischer, J C: 118 Franciolini, Leopoldo: 173 Frere, Arthur Howard: viii, ix, 36, 102, 134, 136, 173, 183, 184, 203 Garrett, Andrew: 33 Geiringer, Karl: viii George IV, King: 50 222
Gétreau, Florence: 115 Gluck, Christoph Willibald Ritter von: viii Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: 48 Griffiths, Ann: 36 Grove, Sir George: viii Gyrowetz, Adalbert: 208 Handel, George Frideric: 134 Hanggele: 109 d’Hardiviller, Charles-Achille: 46 Harwood, Ian: 68 Haydn, Joseph: 148, 208 Heale, Michael: 134 Heberle, Cristoforo: 58 Hellwig, Friedemann: 54 Hellwig, Günther: 92, 118 Hill, Arthur Frederick: viii Hill, W E & Sons: viii Hintz, Frederick: 100 Houdon, Jean Antoine: viii Hoyland, J: 132 Isabella II, Queen of Spain: 123 James, Paul: ix James, Phillip: viii João, Don III: 102 Josephine, Empress: 40 Jubinal, M: 180 Koonce, Frank & Leanne: 102 Lambert, widow: 26 Le Jeune, Jean-Charles: 120 Liefrinck, Hans: 109 Longo, Mango: 109 Lott: 152 Louis, Grand Dauphin of France: 112 Marchal, Pierre Paul: 102 Maria Christina of Spain: 123 Mary, Queen of Scots: 112 de’ Medici, Prince Ferdinand: 102–3 Meucci, Renato: 25 Monteverdi, Claudio: 88 Mott, Michael, John & Anthony: ix, 218 Mozart, Constanze: 48 Mozart, Leopold: 146 Mozart, Wolfgang: 48 Naderman, Jean-Henri: 40 Nicholas, Prince of Esterhazy: 148 Pajot, Gilbert: 206 Pajot, Jean: 206 Pajot, Jean-Baptiste: 206 Parry, Sir Hubert: viii Peretti, Innocentio of Lucca: 88 Pesaro, Francesco, Venetian ambassador in Madrid: 74 Petzmayer, Johann: 32 Playford, John: 138 Pleyel, Ignace: 208 Poulton, Diana: 68 Preston, Thomas: 97 Princess of Wales: 129 Prior, William: ix Rizzio, David: 112 Rogeri, J B: 169 Romney, George: 154 Rossi-Rognoni, Gabriele, 173 Sandys, Frederick: 218 Schorn, Johann Paul: 146 Sellas, Giorgio: 108 Sellas, Matteo: 64, 108 Simpson, Christopher: 134, 138–9 Smith: 100 Solis, Virgil: 109 Spencer, Robert: 102 Stradivari: 88, 186, 206
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Straube, Rudolf: 95 Stumpff, Johann George: 48 Tieffembrucker, Leonardo: 56, 58 Tieffenbrucker, Wendelin (Vendelio Venere I): 56, 58 Topham, John: 186 Venere, Georgio: 58 Venere, Vendelio I (Wendelin Tieffenbrucker): 58 Ventura, Angelo Benedetto: 129 Victoria, Queen: 38, 48, 134 Virchi, Girolamo: 88 Visscher: 109 Vivaldi, Antonio: 25 Voboam, Jean: 112 Voboam, Jean-Baptiste: 115 Weber, Carl Maria von: 48 Whone, Adam: ix William IV, King: 50 Willis & Co: 90 Zumpe, Johannes: 100 Institutions and collections Amaryllis Fleming Trust: ix Ashmolean Museum, Oxford: 88, 95, 112 Belle Skinner collection: 50 Berlin Conservatoire: viii Castello Sforzesco, Milan: 68, 109, 166 Chambure collection: 102 Chase Charity: ix Deutsches Museum, Munich: 159 Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments: 115 Ernst Collection: 140 Fryklund Collection, Musikmuseet, Stockholm: 25 Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence: 173 Gemeentemuseum, The Hague: 186 Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg: 146 Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Vienna: 149 Hill Collection: 88, 109, 112, 134 International Inventions Exhibition, London, 1885: viii, 66 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: 58, 60, 149, 178 Leche Trust: ix Luton Museum: ix Medici Collection, Florence: ix, 102 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: 115, 138, 192 Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva: 140 Musée de la Musique, Paris: 60, 88, 102, 120, 136, 200, 207 Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris: 196 Musée des Instruments de Musique, Brussels: 136, 186, 208 Museo Bardini, Florence: 88, 106 Museo Civico, Bologna: 60 Museo degli Strumenti Musicali, Castello Sforzesco, Milan: 68, 109, 166 Musikhistorisk Museum, Copenhagen: 134 Musikhistoriska Museet, Stockholm: 25, 150 Musikinstrumenten Museum, Leipzig: 173 Musikmuseet, Stockholm: 25, 150 National Music Museum, Vermillion, SD: 158, 166, 178 Orpheon Foundation: 134 Paris Conservatoire: viii Paris Opéra: 40, 142 Parry Room Library, RCM, London: ix Pilgrim Trust: ix Radcliffe Trust: ix Renato Meucci collection: 25 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam: 186 Royal Academy of Music, London: 38, 174, 176 Royal Albert Hall, London: viii Royal Institution, London: 48 Royal Italian Opera, London: 38 Royal Ontario Museum: 192
Royal Society of Musicians, London: 38 St Paul’s Cathedral, London: 138 Shakespeare Birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon: 134 Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC: 115, 173, 207 Sotheby’s, London: 159, 178 South Kensington Museum, London: 58 Victoria & Albert Museum, London: 58, 95, 100, 115, 154, 200 Vienna Conservatoire: viii Places of manufacture Ancona: RCM 141, 106–7 Augsburg: RCM 40, 178–9 Austrian or South German: RCM 163, 31 Bath: RCM 126, 132 ?Bohemian: RCM 34, 144 Brescia: RCM 351, 169 ?Brescia: RCM 48, 88–91, 7 Bristol: RCM 54, 158 Budapest: RCM 308, 28–9 Bø: RCM 291, 150 Cadiz: RCM 173, 121 Cardiff: RCM 295, 38–9, 5 Chicago: RCM 374, 80 Chinese or Japanese: RCM 186, 160 Dublin: RCM 108, 50–2, 2 English: RCM 21, 94 RCM 42, 188 RCM 43, 156 RCM 241, 100 RCM 297, 34 ?English: RCM 31, 154–5, 13 RCM 52, 152 RCM 170, 122 RCM 184, 134–5, 11 ?Flemish: RCM 39, 186–7, 15 RCM 347, 162–3, 15 French: RCM 57, 191 RCM 59, 190 RCM 117, 200 RCM 120, 205 RCM 121, 210 RCM 213, 33 RCM 344, 30 ?French: RCM 22, 115–17, 10 RCM 49, 170 German: RCM 29, 172 RCM 50, 171 RCM 487, 124 German, north: RCM 104, 18–21, 1 RCM 118, 22–3 German, south or Austrian: RCM 163, 31 ?German: RCM 55, 180 RCM 56, 183 RCM 244, 194–5 Greifswald: RCM 44, 140–1, 12 Grenoble: RCM 122, 208–9 Hamburg: RCM 16, 118–19, 10 RCM 27, 92–3, 8 Hardanger: RCM 291, 150 Italian: RCM 14, 81 RCM 19, 77 RCM 25, 66–7 RCM 60, 182 RCM 61, 181 RCM 105, 108 RCM 174, 184 Italian, south: RCM 200, 68–9 ?Italian: RCM 20, 126 RCM 212, 173 RCM 316, 80 RCM 535, 79 Japanese or Chinese: RCM 186, 160 223
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Jenzat: RCM 381, 206 Lisbon: RCM 171, 102–4, 8 London: RCM 46, 138–9, 12 RCM 161, 97 RCM 172, 123 RCM 206, 136–7 RCM 284, 130–1 RCM 298, 44–6, 5 RCM 309, 47 RCM 315, 96 RCM 331, 98 RCM 333, 95 RCM 346, 157 RCM 364, 34 RCM 373, 48–9 Mâcon: RCM 106, 207 Madrid: RCM 17, 74–5 RCM 18, 74–5 Milan: RCM 53, 166–7 RCM 109, 72 RCM 110, 73 ?Milan: RCM 255, 79 ?Moravian: RCM 127, 32 Naples: RCM 6, 109–11, 9 RCM 28, 78 Norwegian: RCM 291, 150 Padua: RCM 203, 58–9 ?Padua: RCM 9, 56–7 Paris: RCM 32, 112–14, 9 RCM 36, 159 RCM 114, 40–1, 3 RCM 119, 204 RCM 123, 202 RCM 134, 128, 11 RCM 149, 142–3 RCM 165, 76 RCM 167, 120 RCM 199, 42–3, 4 RCM 208, 26–7, 2 RCM 228, 203 RCM 289, 196–8, 16 ?Pescina: RCM 48, 88–91, 7 Portuguese: RCM 130, 125 Portuguese or Spanish: RCM 37, 189 Prague: RCM 33, 146–7 RCM 35, 145 Rome: RCM 107, 70–1 Russian: RCM 162, 85 RCM 314, 86 Serbian: RCM 380, 174 Spanish or Portuguese: RCM 37, 189 Stockholm: RCM 23, 127 RCM 135, 82 Turin: RCM 38, 192 RCM 350, 164–5, 14 Ukrainian: RCM 151, 83 Val d’Ajol: RCM 344, 30 Venice: RCM 13, 54–5 RCM 26, 60–3, 6 RCM 124, 24–5 Vienna: RCM 204, 148–9, 13 Welsh: RCM 260, 36–7
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Places (general references) Abergavenny: 38 Antwerp: 109 Austria: viii Béarnais region, France: 33 Berlin: viii, 124 Birmingham: 168 Brescia: 88, 152 Calcutta: 46 Chislin (Chissigne): 164 Cremona: 169 England: viii Flemish: 186 Florence: 25, 90, 173, 181 France: viii, 33 Franconia (Frankland): 164 Füssen: 109, 164 Germany: viii Halle: 64 Hohenschwangau: 149 Hungarian: 28 India: 48 Kiev: 84 Königsberg: 118 Leipzig: 124 London: 38, 186 Lorraine: 196 Lucca: 88 Madeiran: 125 Mantua: 88 Markneukirchen: 124 Milan: 109, 169 Mirecourt, 102, 120 Moscow: 85 Naples: 109, 123 New Zealand: 134 Nottage, Porthcawl: 36 Nürnberg: 64, 109 Padua, 58 Paris: viii, 123, 208 Piedmont: 164 Polish or Saxon: 180 Porthcawl: 36 Riga: 124 Rome: 25 Ruhla, Thuringia: 48 St Germain de l’Auxerrois: 204 St Petersburg: 38, 48, 85, 124 Saxon or Polish: 180 Scotland: 112 Sheffield: 132 Sicily: 68 Siena: viii Spain: 121, 123 Sweden: 127 Thuringia: 48 Tyrol: 145, 178 Venetian: 22, 108 Venice: 25, 74 Vicenza: 74 Vienna: viii, 149 Vils: 178 Yugoslavia: RCM 380, 174
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The Royal College of Music Museum of Instruments houses an internationally renowned collection of nearly 900 musical instruments and accessories from c.1480 to the present, including the Tagore, Donaldson, Hipkins, Ridley, Hartley, Walton, Fleming, Steele-Perkins and Freddy Hill collections and instruments on loan from the Royal Collection Trust. Part I of the Museum’s Catalogue, European Wind Instruments, was published in 1982, followed by Part Ia, Addenda (1998) and Part II, Keyboard Instruments (2000). The present volume has been produced with the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council from its Special Project scheme, the Leche Trust and the Radcliffe Trust.
R OYAL C OLLEGE OF M USIC M USEUM OF I NSTRUMENTS C ATALOGUE P ART III E UROPEAN S TRINGED I NSTRUMENTS
R C M M I
ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC MUSEUM OF INSTRUMENTS CATALOGUE PART III
EUROPEAN STRINGED INSTRUMENTS