DHV:
1191
Tourin ID:
Size:
Treble ?
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
Richard II
Meares
Date:
1718
Label Text:
Ricardo Meares ... 1718 ? [probably Richardus Meares, / Instrument. Music. Fabric. in area . Boreali D. Pauli apud Londinates]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
USA
Provo, UT
No. of Strings:
5
Collection:
Brigham Young University
Sound Holes:
C ?
Catalog Number:
920025701 (formerly 0116)
Head:
Cherub
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Lotta van Buren, -1955; Charles van Raalte, Brownsea Castle, England -1927
Measurements:
Body Length:
35.7
String Length:
32.4?
Rib Depth:
4.8
Upper Width:
15.4
Middle Width:
10.8
Bottom Width:
19.4
Information
Source:
H. Powley to TGM, 1995 + 2008; Loveless 1956, pp. 10, 12, 14-15
Literature:
Hebbert 2003b, pp. 45-46; Hebbert 2001a, pp. 46-48; Loveless 1956, pp. 10, 12, 14-15
Photographs:
Loveless 1956, pl. 1 (front), fig. 2 (fingerboard); unpublished, from H. Powley 1/08: front, F+B 3/4 body only, neck+head 3/4, etc. (color)]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Hebbert 2001a (Meares) argues this is a viola d’amore, by Meares II (label matches that in Met’s composite Lewis viol, and in Ben’s own violin); cf. the Wamsley “treble” at MMA, 1990.218.2. Loveless 1956: “purchased from the Brownsea Castle collection by Mr. Van der Straeten for Miss Van Buren.” Fingerboard has metal inlay; sound holes are crescents; 2 pegs treble, 3 bass side. Dimensions taken on back, in inches (string length “12 5/4,” obviously an error, perhaps correctly 12 3/4). Handwritten comments on database printout provided by H. Powley (1995): Body riddled with worm damage; both table and back have been relined (laminated). Scroll and (heavily restored) pegbox don’t belong to neck; soundholes may have been recut. From photos: white (ivory?) edging to table and at rib corners; back seemingly 1-piece.