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DHV:
1615
Tourin ID:

Size:

Bass

Place Made:

Maker:

GB

London

Richard

Meares

Date:

1669

Label Text:

Richard Meares without / Bishops-gate near to Sir / Paul Pinders, London /Fecit 1669 [printed except 69]

Body Shape:

Viol

Current Location:

E

Barcelona

No. of Strings:

6

Collection:

Private Collection

Sound Holes:

C

Catalog Number:

Head:

Female

Private Owner:

Yes

Previous Owner:

Marius de Zayas (d. 1961); Arnold Dolmetsch (before 1901, in 1904-05, and probably until mid-1930s)

Measurements:

Body Length:

72.4

String Length:

68

Rib Depth:

11.9

Upper Width:

33.2

Middle Width:

24.8

Bottom Width:

41.2

Information

Source:

S. Mackey to TGM 1/21; owner to TGM, 6/13; Dolmetsch 1904, p. 137; Dolmetsch 1905, p. 113

Literature:

Mackey 2018; Danks 1958, p. 112; Dolmetsch 1904, p. 137; Dolmetsch 1905, p. 113

Photographs:

Mackey 2018 (FB+S, head FB+S, rosette, back ornament, label [color]); Dolmetsch 1904, p. 137 (label and rose); Dolmetsch 1905, p. 113 (head side); [unpublished, from S. Mackey 1/17: FB+S, head FB+S (color); from owner, 6/13: FSS, back body only, head F+S, back ornaments individually, rosette (color)]

Recordings:

Auctions:

Comments:

Heart-shaped rosette; trapezoidal label. Fingerboard, tailpiece, pegs, and bridge by Dolmetsch; neck, pegbox, and head perhaps original. Fingerboard and tailpiece blond with dark borders. Internal pencil inscription “Restored by / Arnold Dolmetsch / 1929”, but probably also earlier, in 1890s: this viol sold in his 1901 bankruptcy auction, when purchased by a friend and given back to him. (Danks 1958: “The Dolmetsch collection has a bass viol [by Meares] that was acquired and restored by Arnold Dolmetsch in 1921, the label states “Richard Meares without Bishop’s Gate near to Sir Paul Pinders. London 1669”; but date of 1921 may be wrong.) Owner’s dimensions 72, 33/25/41, 12, 68; Mackey’s back widths 33.5/25.0/41.2.

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