Guitar
Maker
Antoine Aubry
Date1779
Place MadeMirecourt, France, Europe
Serial No.none
SignedWritten in black ink on oval, brown paper label: faite par Moyantoine / Aubry a Mircourt / 1779DescriptionThis highly decorated instrument represents a transitional model between the Baroque and Classical periods. It still has the five double courses of the Baroque, but a body with a more pronounced waist. By the end of the century, guitars with six single strings became popular in France.
Stringing: five double courses
Top: two-piece spruce: narrow grain
Back: two-piece quarter-cut brown-stained maple veneered with chevroned maccassar ebony and apple divided by boxwood strips; ebony button
Ribs: quarter-cut maple veneered with chevroned maccassar ebony and apple divided by boxwood strips; divided at bottom joint by macassar ebony veneer surrounded by boxwood strips, wider at joint with top
Head: black-painted maple veneered on front with tortoiseshell, ebony, mother-of-pearl, and bone, and veneered on back with macassar ebony, apple, and boxwood; hole drilled at top for suspending
Neck: veneered with macassar and apple with boxwood strip trim, tied gut frets; faceted shape
Fingerboard: maple with tortoiseshell, ebony, ivory, and bone inlaid overlay
Nut: bone; recessed groves between courses; by Andrew Dipper
Bridge: ebony tie bridge with ebony moustaches by Andrew Dipper
Pegs: ten boxwood with bone pins
End button: ivory
Binding: angled pieces of tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and bone and ebony strips surrounded on each side by four-ply strips of ebony and boxwood on top; ebony with boxwood strip trim on back
Rose: triple layers of parchment with recessed center section
Rosette: angled pieces of tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, and bone and ebony strips surrounded on each side by four-ply strips of ebony and boxwood, a space in between and larger ebony strips; soundhole bound in ebony
Linings: spruce
Neck block: spruce with later nail into top block
End block: spruce
Top braces: two spruce braces with tapered ends above soundhole, one below; spruce bridge plate with holes from pin bridge once on the instrument
Back braces: five lateral spruce braces with triangular outline and tapered ends; rounded maple graft along back joint
Other: inside of ribs lined with later gray loose-woven cloth by Andrew Dipper, with 12 spruce reinforcements running from top to back; burn marks on inside of ribs
DimensionsTotal guitar length: 890 mm
Back length: 427 mm
Upper bout width: 195 mm
Waist width: 156 mm
Lower bout width: 260 mm
Rib height (including edging), heel: 93 mm
Rib height, waist: 95 mm
Rib height, end block: 103 mm
Head length: 181 mm
Head width, top: 79 mm
Head width, bottom: 50 mm
Neck length (nut to ribs): 294 mm
Neck width, nut: 43 mm
Neck width, heel: 53 mm
Soundhole diameter: 87 mm
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): 640 mm
ProvenancePurchased by the National Music Museum in 1993 from Wurlitzer-Bruck, New York, New York.
Published References"Important Instruments Acquired in 1993," The Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 21, No. 2 (January 1994), pp. 2-7.
André P. Larson. "Guitar, Antoine Aubry, Mirecourt, France, 1779." South Dakota Musician 28, No. 3 (Spring 1994). Cover, p. 24.
Darcy Kuronen. Dangerous Curves: The Art of the Guitar. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2001. pp. 33, 220.
André P. Larson. 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. p. 66.
Credit LineRawlins Fund, 1993
Object number05581
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