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rosette, back ornament, label [color]); Dolmetsch 1904, p. 137 (label and rose); Dolmetsch 1905, p. 113 (head side); [unpublished, from S. Mackey 1/17: FB+S, head FB+S (color); from owner, 6/13: FSS, back body only, head F+S, back ornaments individually, rosette (color)]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