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Child's violoncello
Alternate name:Child's cello
Alternate name:Violoncello piccolo
Maker: Anton Wachter
Date: 1760 ca.
Place Made:Fussen-Faulenbach, Bavaria, Germany, Europe
Serial No: None
SignedHandwritten label: Antoni Wachter Geigenmacher / in Faulenbach bey Fussen
DescriptionThis is the only known cello by Wachter and it may have survived unaltered because of its small size, rendering it less useful for modern performance. It features relatively plain wood and painted, rather than inlaid, purfling, suggesting it was intended as an economical option for its purchaser. Interesting features include a three-piece back, with wings of additional wood at the sides, and the presence of two endpins at the base of the lower rib. The original fingerboard is of painted hardwood and is steeply wedge-shaped to compensate for its lower neck angle, as was typical of construction in the eighteenth century. The dramatic lion’s head at the top of the instrument, with extended tongue, is roughly carved but impactful, with an intimidating scowl. The cello’s size is in between that of a modern ½-size and ¾-size cello, and it seems likely to have been intended as a child’s instrument, rather than an instrument designed to be tuned at a higher pitch. Wachter’s cello joins several other spectacular eighteenth century children’s instruments in the National Music Museum’s collections, including a cello, NMM 3374, by the Neapolitan maker Ferdinando Gagliano, and a violin, NMM 3359, by the Cremonese maker Lorenzo Storioni, both made in 1793.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide, wavy grainpin through top into bottom block on treble side of center joint; pin through top into top block on bass side of center joint
Back: three-piece, slab-cut maple: plain; one piece at center and two wings in lower bout; button is separate piece of wood
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: plain; one-piece lower rib
Head and neck: maple: plain; lion's head; last third of heel toward button is separate piece of maple
Decoration: lion's head scroll
Varnish: golden brown
Fingerboard: black-painted hardwood; strongly tapered; short; notch at neck heel position; two wood pins though fingerboard into neck
Nut: black-painted pearwood
Tailpiece: missing
Pegs: black-stained hardwood with undercut heads and integral pins; three original and one reproduction
Saddle: ebony; extends into lower rib with trapezoidal shape with concave sides; later
Endpin: decoratively turned maple, closer to top than back; second later small boxwood endpin closer to back than top
F-holes: curved upper and lower wings; inside edges stained dark brown
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; filled nail hole toward back
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: low height; short; triangular profile
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide, wavy grainpin through top into bottom block on treble side of center joint; pin through top into top block on bass side of center joint
Back: three-piece, slab-cut maple: plain; one piece at center and two wings in lower bout; button is separate piece of wood
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: plain; one-piece lower rib
Head and neck: maple: plain; lion's head; last third of heel toward button is separate piece of maple
Decoration: lion's head scroll
Varnish: golden brown
Fingerboard: black-painted hardwood; strongly tapered; short; notch at neck heel position; two wood pins though fingerboard into neck
Nut: black-painted pearwood
Tailpiece: missing
Pegs: black-stained hardwood with undercut heads and integral pins; three original and one reproduction
Saddle: ebony; extends into lower rib with trapezoidal shape with concave sides; later
Endpin: decoratively turned maple, closer to top than back; second later small boxwood endpin closer to back than top
F-holes: curved upper and lower wings; inside edges stained dark brown
Linings: spruce
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; filled nail hole toward back
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: low height; short; triangular profile
DimensionsTotal child's violoncello length: 1108 mm
Back length: 662 mm
Upper bout width: 301 mm
Center bout width: 205 mm
Lower bout width: 365 mm
Upper rib height: 105-107 mm
Center rib height: 107-108 mm
Lower rib height: 108-112 mm
Stop length: 350 mm
Vibrating string length: 590 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 236 mm
Back length: 662 mm
Upper bout width: 301 mm
Center bout width: 205 mm
Lower bout width: 365 mm
Upper rib height: 105-107 mm
Center rib height: 107-108 mm
Lower rib height: 108-112 mm
Stop length: 350 mm
Vibrating string length: 590 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 236 mm
ProvenanceThe Caldwell Collection of Viols. Gift of Catharina Meints Caldwell, Oberlin, Ohio, 2019.
Terms
Credit Line: Caldwell Collection. Gift of Catharina Meints Caldwell, 2019
Not on view
Published ReferencesCaldwell, Catharina Meints, with John Pringle and Thomas G. MacCracken. _The Caldwell Collection of Viols: A Life Together in the Pursuit of Beauty_. Hudson, NY: Custos, 2012. Pages 104-107.
Sheets, Arian. "An unaltered Baroque cello from the Fuessen school." _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 44, no. 2 (Summer 2020): 4-5.
Sheets, Arian. "An unaltered Baroque cello from the Fuessen school." _National Music Museum Newsletter_ 44, no. 2 (Summer 2020): 4-5.
Object number: 15080