5-string violin/viola
Maker
Chanot & Lete
Date1819
Place MadeParis, France, Europe
ModelChanot
Serial No.none
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label with lined texture and line and scalloped edge border: Francois. Chanot [names angled to form upside-down “V”] /
Paris. 1819Markingsnone
DescriptionTop: one-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain broadening toward the bass and narrowing toward the treble; slight bear-claw figure on upper bass bout
Back: one-piece, quarter-cut maple: very narrow curl ascending slightly from treble to bass; ivory cap over entire button
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: narrow curl, angled to right on bass side, angled to left on treble side; top and back do not overhang ribs
Head and neck: maple: narrow curl; reversed scroll, fluted; back of pegbox flat
Edging: edges not scooped; edges capped with rounded ivory over a pearwood strip
Purfling: five alternating ebony and ivory strips, the outer ones ebony; continues under back button
Varnish: dark brown; similar to NMM 10,010
Fingerboard: ebony; channel over neck position; later
Nut: ebony; later
String holder: guitar-style rectangular ebony with carved saddle, with a convex curve toward upper edge; strings held by three stained hardwood pins with red-painted mother-of-pearl eyes, one red-brown hardwood (possibly pearwood) pin with mother-of-pearl eye, and one ebony pin with mother-of-pearl eye
Pegs: five ebony with mother-of-pearl eyes; later
Saddle: black-stained maple; does not extend into purfling; later
Endpin: dark red hardwood with visible lighter rays (possibly pearwood)
Bridge: Chanot-model by Andrew Dipper
F-holes: curved, slot-shaped; shorter than NMM 1287 and NMM 5972; edges lined in ebony and ivory, the inside edge varnished dark brown
Linings: spruce
Top block: poplar or willow; nail into neck heel
Bottom block: poplar or willow
Bassbar: low height; ends at upper edge of string holder
DimensionsTotal violin/viola length: 619 mm
Back length: 379 mm
Upper bout width: 179 mm
Center bout width: 129 mm
Lower bout width: 226 mm
Upper rib height: 32-34 mm
Center rib height: 33-34 mm
Lower rib height: 34 mm
Stop length (higher bridge position): 190 mm
Stop length (lower bridge position): 211 mm
Vibrating string length (higher bridge position): 325 mm
Vibrating string length (lower bridge position): 337 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 132 mm
Published ReferencesKoster, John. "Inventive Violin Making . . . Important Acquisitions Enrich Museum's Holdings." America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 28, No. 3 (August 2001): 1-3.
Larson, André P. Beethoven & Berlioz, Paris & Vienna: Musical Treasures from the Age of Revolution & Romance 1789-1848. With essay by John Koster. Exhibition catalog, Washington Pavilion, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, September 12-November 2, 2003. Vermillion: National Music Museum 2003. Pages 20, 21, 34.
Larson, André P., "Violin Acquired to Honor Usher Abell," National Music Museum Newsletter 30, No. 2 (May 2003), p. 7.
Credit LinePurchase funds gift of family and friends, in memory of Usher Abell, 2003
Object number10011
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