Viola
Date1560-1580 ca.
Place MadeBrescia, Italy, Europe
SignedWritten in black ink on lined paper label: Peregrino. I[illeg.] ZanettoMarkingsWritten in pencil on small, brown paper label visible through treble soundhole: 8237
Branded on bridge: WURLITZER. N.Y.
DescriptionThis viola is very similar to one in the Chi Mei Collection in Taiwan, though the NMM's example has had the soundholes recut in a lower position on the top. The large size is typical of the period, when violas were used for the middle voices of part music rather than the more virtuosic repertoire introduced two centuries later.
Top: one-piece spruce cut off-the-quarter: narrow grain on treble side and wide, irregular grain on bass side; wing on lower bass bout
Back: two-piece, slab-cut maple: plain; maple pin through back into top block on bass side of center joint; maple pin through back into bottom block on treble side of center joint; later button with ebony crown
Ribs: slab-cut maple: plain; lower rib divided by purfling strip; corners chamfered
Head: maple: plain; flared scroll volutes; deeply gouged volute transition into pegbox ending in point; decorative ridges carved on sides of pegbox toward back; inside stained black
Neck: maple; broad curl; grafted
Arching: minimal recurve
Varnish: medium orange brown; polished
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: ebony; later
Tailgut: black nylon
Pegs: four ebony; later
Saddle: ebony; curved extension into lower rib; later; evidence of wider saddle in patch to bass side
Endpin: ebony with decoratively turned head and ivory dome inlay; later
F-holes: narrow, pointed wings; rounded notches; inside edges stained black; cut later and moved around 1 cm lower than originals in 20th century (images of original f-holes survive)
Linings: light hardwood
Corner blocks: light hardwood; visible small gouge marks
Top block: light hardwood; later
Bottom block: light hardwood; later
Bassbar: spruce; later
Other: evidence of bridge positions up to 2.5cm higher and lower than present
DimensionsTotal viola length: 701 mm
Back length: 441 mm (17-3/8")
Upper bout width: 214 mm
Center bout width: 139 mm
Lower bout width: 253 mm
Upper rib height: 38-40 mm
Center rib height: 38-40 mm
Lower rib height: 39 mm
Stop length: 228 mm
Vibrating string length: 380 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 153 mm
ProvenanceAcquired by Witten from Rembert Wurlitzer, New York, New York,1962.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Published ReferencesAndré P. Larson, The National Music Museum: A Pictorial Souvenir (Vermillion: National Music Museum, 1988), p. 48.
Credit LineWitten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Object number03367
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