DHV:
1350
Tourin ID:
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
D ?
Date:
17..
Label Text:
Barak Norman, Bass Viol, Saint Paul’s alley, fecit 1691
Body Shape:
Cello
Current Location:
A
Vienna
No. of Strings:
7
Collection:
Vázquez, José [heirs]
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
176
Head:
Male
Private Owner:
Yes
Previous Owner:
Myrna Herzog, Raanana, Israel, 2002-19
Measurements:
Body Length:
69.8
String Length:
67.1
Rib Depth:
11.7
Upper Width:
32
Middle Width:
22.6
Bottom Width:
42.5
Information
Source:
Herzog to TGM, 4/19; Herzog 2003, D-27; Christie’s 11/13/02, lot 107
Literature:
Herzog 2003, D-27; Christie’s 11/13/02, lot 107; Hebbert 2001, p. 315 (X:41); Montagu 1989, p. 567; Christie’s 6/14/1989, lot 137
Photographs:
Christie’s 11/13/02, lot 107 (back); Herzog 2003, D-27 (front, head 3/4); [unpublished, from owner 9/20: F+B, head FB+S (color); from previous owner 4/19: FB+S, head FB+S, (color)]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Christie’s 2002/01/13, lot 107; Christie’s 1989/06/14, lot 137
Christie’s: string length 67.5; offered as “labeled Barak Norman”: 6-piece table, 2-piece back; pointed corners, sloping shoulders, very curly C-holes, tailgut. Christie’s said neck and head later than body, but B. Hebbert thinks head original, and instrument is 18th-C. German; bass bar also seems original. Bridge marked Chanot & Chardon, Paris, probably dating from “cellamba” conversion. Herzog 2003: single purfling front and back; “signs ... indicating an original neck similar to most English viols”; bridge height and neck angle very cello-like. E-mail 4/19: restoration by Fred Lindeman (body) and Floris van der Voort (neck, fingerboard, tailpiece). Vázquez website: “Wood and varnish betray certain traits of both Venetian and Tyrolean instruments”; dendrochronology: ca. 1660.