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DHV:
1353
Tourin ID:

Size:

Bass

Place Made:

Maker:

F

Simon

Bongard

Date:

1655

Label Text:

Simon Bongard / a Paris 1655

Body Shape:

Viol

Current Location:

F

No. of Strings:

7

Collection:

Private Collection

Sound Holes:

C

Catalog Number:

Head:

Head

Private Owner:

Yes

Previous Owner:

Danièle Alpers, before 1986-2023; Cellist in the south of France, c. 1977; Count Eugène de Bricqueville, Versailles (late 19th C.)

Measurements:

Body Length:

67

String Length:

69.2

Rib Depth:

13

Upper Width:

31.5

Middle Width:

23

Bottom Width:

38.8

Information

Source:

Owner to TGM, 12/02

Literature:

Photographs:

[Unpublished, from J. Kraft 9/17: B+S body only, bottom rib, also label 4/23 (color); from owner, 9/10: front, front center bouts only, head front (color)]; from J. Dunford: front 3/4; from C. Meints 1/21: F+S, body only, pre-1986 (color)]

Recordings:

Auctions:

Comments:

When acquired by previous owner, had non-original neck, short and narrow, with 6-string pegbox; new 7-string neck by Judith Kraft, 1986. 2-piece table and back, both with single purfling; lower bout of back has wings. Carved head has blue eyes in glass paste. Lütgendorff 1922, Grillet 1901, and Pierre 1893 all reference a 6-string bass viol by Simon Bongars dated 1655, probably this instrument. Similar in appearance to a double bass by “Simon Bongard” dated 1663 at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers: BL 105 cm per Greenberg 2003, now with 4 strings, photos at https://phototheque.arts-et-metiers.net/?idPageWeb=95.

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