13-course lute
Maker
Thomas Edlinger
Maker
Wendelin Tieffenbrucker
Date1548-1612 ca. and 1724
Place MadePrague, Austria-Hungary
Place MadePadua, Italy, Europe
Place MadeCzech Republic
Place MadeCzechoslovakia
Serial No.none
SignedPrinted on paper label: In Padua. Vendelinus. Tieffenbruker. [according to Sebastian Kirsch, this label is authentic 5/9/2024]Printed on paper label, the "a" of Praga added in handwritten black ink: THOMAS EDLINGER, in Praga.
Glued over the lower edge of Edlinger printed label is a label written in black ink:
ha di novo Renovato Anno 1724
Markingsnone
DescriptionOriginally a bass lute, theorbo, or chittarone modified by Thomas Edlinger into a thirteen-course baroque lute in 1724. The first two (highest) courses are single, the rest double. The first course is on a chantrelle rider; the twelfth and thirteenth are on a bass rider. Of the original instrument, Edlinger retained the body and the rose, which he set into a new belly. Bridge, neck, and head by Edlinger.
Soundboard: two-piece quarter-cut spruce: narrow-to-medium grain; by Edlinger
Bowl: 21 yew staves; black-stained dark hardwood strap button near neck
Clasp: two-piece yew; remains of decorative outline of earlier clasp indicates this area was reconfigured; black-stained dark hardwood strap button
Head: black-painted maple; two riders on treble and bass sides; front edges of pegbox with single engraved line decoration; by Edlinger; open center portion with pierced vine-motif maple scrollwork (later)
Neck: veneered with ebony; two ebony pins through veneer into neck, one on each side, near bowl (according to Sebastian Kirsch, this technique is found on Edlinger necks); by Edlinger
Binding: ebony
Fingerboard: ebony; one ebony and one black-stained maple fret inlaid in soundboard
Nuts: bone
Bridge: black-painted maple and ebony tie bridge; by Edlinger
Tuners: 23 black-stained maple or fruitwood pegs with integral pins
Rose: carved spruce rose from earlier lute soundboard with circle and sun-with-faces motif
Lacquer: dark red varnish with craquelure on bowl
Bowl lining: recycled paper strips, some with writing in black ink, glued at joints between ribs
Technical drawing available for purchase.
DimensionsTotal 13-course lute length: 991 mm
Length of body, to neck: 570.4 mm
Top length: 588 mm
Maximum body width: 370 mm
Maximum bowl height: 166 mm
Head length: 263.3 mm
Head width, top: 19.2 mm
Head width, bottom: 76 mm
Neck length (nut to ribs): 358 mm
Neck width, nut: 85 mm
Neck width, heel: 113 mm
Soundhole diameter: 112.5 mm
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 1st course: 817.5 mm; 11th course: 816 mm; 13th (lowest) course: 870 mm
ProvenancePresumably acquired from the Thomas Edlinger by the Des Fours family and kept at their seat, Hrubý Rohozec castle in Turnov, Bohemia, where the instrument was listed in an eighteenth-century inventory, according to a letter of 17 August 1907 by owner, Nickolaus Graf Des Fours Walderorde. It remained there until shortly after World War II, when the castle was confiscated by the state. In 1946-47 it was taken by Carl Des Fours Walderode to Prague for photography and certification, and shortly afterwards to Vienna, where it was lent to the Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente at the Kunsthistorisches Museum from 28 July 1954 to 12 June 1979. On 14 June 1979, he transferred ownership to his wife, Johanna Kammerlander, who kept it in storage in Schloss Vaduz, Lichtenstein, until its acquisition by the NMM.
The National Music Museum purchased it from Johanna Kammerlander at Schloss Vaduz, Lichtenstein.
Published ReferencesRobert Lundberg, “Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Lute-Making,” Journal of the Lute Society of America 7 (1974), pp. 33 and 48.
Robert Lundberg, Historical Lute Construction (Tacoma, Wash.: Guild of American Luthiers, 2002), pp. 43 and 251 (no. 52 in list).
André P. Larson, “From a Bohemian Castle: Unraveling the 400-Year Saga of Italian Lutes Built About 1600,” America’s National Music Museum Newsletter 19, no. 4 (November 2002), pp. 1-3.
Robert Lundberg, “Weiss’s Lutes: the Origin of the 13-Course German Baroque Lutes” (edited and completed by Douglas Alton Smith after the author’s death), Journal of the Lute Society of America, forthcoming (2004).
André P. Larson, “From a Bohemian Castle: Unraveling the 400-Year Saga of Italian Lutes Built About 1600,” Lute Society of America Quarterly Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (February 2009), pp. 6-8.
Edward Martin, “A Tale of Two Lutes in South Dakota. . . A Close View of the Edlinger Lutes in the National Museum- A Player’s Perspective,” Lute Society of America Quarterly Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (February 2009), pp. 9-11.
Technical Drawings
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of Margaret Ann Everist, 2002
Object number10214
On View
Not on view
