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Bass viola da gamba
Alternate name:Bass viol
Date: 1600-1630 ca.
Place Made:Brescia, Italy, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedWritten in black ink in imitation of print, on center bout brace: G. Paolo Maggini. Brescia
DescriptionThis bass viola da gamba was converted to a cello, but received minimal modification. While disassembled, it is a relatively pure state of preservation for its rarity and age.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain; prominent hasslefichte figure
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut cherry; several large wood pins through back at center in upper bout
Ribs: slab-cut cherry
Head: maple: plain; later cello scroll
Neck: missing
Arching: no recurve on top; flat back with break in upper bout
Purfling: double
Varnish: dark red brown
Saddle: missing
Soundholes: f-holes; undercut; notch corners rounded
Linings: willow or poplar; wide; possibly later
Corner blocks: spruce; small
Top block: spruce; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: removed
Back braces: wide, low spruce bars in center and lower bout; narrow, taller spruce bar with tapered ends in upper bout
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain; prominent hasslefichte figure
Back: two-piece, quarter-cut cherry; several large wood pins through back at center in upper bout
Ribs: slab-cut cherry
Head: maple: plain; later cello scroll
Neck: missing
Arching: no recurve on top; flat back with break in upper bout
Purfling: double
Varnish: dark red brown
Saddle: missing
Soundholes: f-holes; undercut; notch corners rounded
Linings: willow or poplar; wide; possibly later
Corner blocks: spruce; small
Top block: spruce; grain runs parallel to plane of top and back
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: removed
Back braces: wide, low spruce bars in center and lower bout; narrow, taller spruce bar with tapered ends in upper bout
DimensionsTop length: 652 mm
Upper bout width: 304 mm
Center bout width: 218 mm
Lower bout width: 392 mm
Upper rib height: 78-119 mm
Center rib height: 118-122 mm
Lower rib height: 119-124 mm
Stop length: 342 mm
Upper bout width: 304 mm
Center bout width: 218 mm
Lower bout width: 392 mm
Upper rib height: 78-119 mm
Center rib height: 118-122 mm
Lower rib height: 119-124 mm
Stop length: 342 mm
ProvenanceLaurence Witten acquired from the Bisiach Collection, Venegono Superiore, Italy, 1969.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Purchased by the National Music Museum from Laurence Witten family, New Haven, Connecticut, 1984.
Terms
Credit Line: Witten-Rawlins Collection, 1984
Not on view
Published References"Black Hills Exhibit Features Mozart and 18th-Century Vienna," Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter XVII, no. 2 (January 1990), p. 8.
James Westbrook and Ted Fuller, The Complete Illustrated Book of the Acoustic Guitar (Wigston, UK: Lorenz Books, 2012), p. 249.
James Westbrook and Ted Fuller, The Complete Illustrated Book of the Acoustic Guitar (Wigston, UK: Lorenz Books, 2012), p. 249.
Object number: 03430