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Viola
Maker: Christoph Friedrich Hunger
Date: 1751
Place Made:Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, Europe
Serial No: none
SignedWritten in black ink on paper label: ChristophFriedrich Hunger / als Nachfolger
dessreL: H:L: / Hoffmans in Leipzig 1751
dessreL: H:L: / Hoffmans in Leipzig 1751
MarkingsWritten in pencil on inside of back to lower right of label: 1929
DescriptionThis viola was made by a follower of the Hoffmann family, court makers in Leipzig and friends of the Bach family. It is a large, exceptionally deep instrument and may have been an experimental model.
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: one-piece maple cut off-the-quarter: narrow, horizontal curl
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: narrow curl; one-piece lower rib
Head: maple: plain; pegbox with shoulders
Neck: maple: narrow curl; grafted; later
Arching: high
Varnish: very dark brown
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: ebony; later
Tailgut: plain gut
Pegs: boxwood with integral pins; later
Saddle: ebony; later
Endpin: ebony with mother-of-pearl eye and turned ring around head; later
F-holes: curved wings
Linings: maple; very small
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; later
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: spruce; long; later
Other: 19th century ebony chin rest held on by tailgut
Top: two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: medium grain
Back: one-piece maple cut off-the-quarter: narrow, horizontal curl
Ribs: quarter-cut maple: narrow curl; one-piece lower rib
Head: maple: plain; pegbox with shoulders
Neck: maple: narrow curl; grafted; later
Arching: high
Varnish: very dark brown
Fingerboard: ebony; later
Nut: ebony; later
Tailpiece: ebony; later
Tailgut: plain gut
Pegs: boxwood with integral pins; later
Saddle: ebony; later
Endpin: ebony with mother-of-pearl eye and turned ring around head; later
F-holes: curved wings
Linings: maple; very small
Corner blocks: spruce
Top block: spruce; later
Bottom block: spruce
Bassbar: spruce; long; later
Other: 19th century ebony chin rest held on by tailgut
DimensionsTotal viola length: 699 mm
Back length: 440 mm (17-5/16")
Upper bout width: 199 mm
Center bout width: 134 mm
Lower bout width: 251 mm
Upper rib height: 48-53 mm
Center rib height: 50-53 mm
Lower rib height: 52-54 mm
Stop length: 335 mm
Vibrating string length: 397 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 164 mm
Back length: 440 mm (17-5/16")
Upper bout width: 199 mm
Center bout width: 134 mm
Lower bout width: 251 mm
Upper rib height: 48-53 mm
Center rib height: 50-53 mm
Lower rib height: 52-54 mm
Stop length: 335 mm
Vibrating string length: 397 mm
Neck length (bottom of nut to ribs): 164 mm
ProvenancePurchased by the National Music Museum in 1987 from John & Arthur Beare, London, England.
Terms
Credit Line: Arne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1987
Not on view
Published ReferencesShrine to Music Museum Newsletter, January, 1988, p. 1.
Maurice W. Riley, The History of the Viola, Vol. II, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Braun-
Brumfield), 1991, p. 81, 88.
Maurice W. Riley, The History of the Viola, Vol. II, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Braun-
Brumfield), 1991, p. 81, 88.
Object number: 04144