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DHV:
1112
Tourin ID:

Size:

Bass

Place Made:

Maker:

GB

London

George

Saint George

Date:

1895

Label Text:

G. Saint-George / fecit / London, A.D. 1895 [handwritten]; 1895 / G [monogram][inked in center of table ornament]

Body Shape:

Viol

Current Location:

USA

New York, NY

No. of Strings:

6

Collection:

Private Collection

Sound Holes:

C

Catalog Number:

Head:

Dolphin

Private Owner:

Yes

Previous Owner:

John Appel, New York, 1988-93; Sally Pinchot, Guilford, CT, 1978-88; Henry Burnett, New York, -1978

Measurements:

Body Length:

65.9

String Length:

67.1

Rib Depth:

12

Upper Width:

30.1

Middle Width:

22.1

Bottom Width:

37.1

Information

Source:

TGM visit 9/94

Literature:

Rutledge 1991, pp. 412-13; van der Straeten 1910c, p. 399; Strad no. 76 (August, 1896), pp. 103-04.

Photographs:

Rutledge 1991, p. 413 (head 3/4); van der Straeten 1910c, p. 400 (front 3/4, head 3/4); [by TGM: FB+S, head FB+S, table ornament, FB+TP inlay]

Recordings:

Auctions:

Comments:

2-piece table with central Norman-style ornament; 1-piece back with floral outlines at bottom, in center, and below fold, plus 2 smaller at lower corners of folded section; both with double purfling. Elaborate inlay on fingerboard and tailpiece, featuring dolphins to complement the carved head; back of pegbox also carved, but sides plain. Handwritten in ink inside back: a) below soundpost plate: “This instrument was made entirely by / G. Saint George (prof. & composer / of music), 39 Westtowne Park Road, Bayswater / Sept. 1895 / for his only son Henry, the incomparable / gamba player of the 19th century / G [monogram]”; b) above fold: “The Dolphin head, fingerboard, / tailpiece & ornamental purfling / were designed & executed by me / G [monogram]”. Rutledge 1991: “We do know of four violas da gamba built around 1896 by George Saint-George” (other three not mentioned, and current locations unknown). Van der Straeten 1910c: “He has made two bass viols, and is now working on his second viol d’amour. The bass viols he calls respectively ‘The Dolphin’ and ‘The Ram’s Head’.”

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