DHV:
23
Tourin ID:
ASHMOL 2, LOAN 12
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
I
Brescia
Gasparo da Salo
Bertolotti
Date:
1580 C ?
Label Text:
Gaspar da Salo in Brescia [printed]
Body Shape:
Cello
Current Location:
GB
Oxford
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Ashmolean Museum
Sound Holes:
3
Catalog Number:
WA1939.22 (Ash.03); Boyden 2
Head:
Scroll
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Messrs. Arthur and Alfred Hill, London, 1903-1939; Cathedral of Burgos
Measurements:
Body Length:
65
String Length:
64.5
Rib Depth:
Upper Width:
34
Middle Width:
23.3
Bottom Width:
41.8
Information
Source:
PT visit 6/77; Boyden 1969, pp. 7-8
Literature:
Fleming 2011, pp. 36-43, 78-79; Herzog 2003, IT-02; Dassenno 1990, p. 52; Boyden 1969, pp. 7-8; Mucchi 1940, p. 202; Loan 1904, p. 151
Photographs:
Hoffmann 2018, p. 160 (front; not a drawing, as stated there); Fleming 2011, pp. 19, 36-43 (front 3/4, both sides, FB+S body only, head FB+S, bottom rib, details of decoration, label (color); Fleming 2009, p. 126 (front [color]); Whiteley 2008, p. 7 (front [color]); Liutai in Brescia 2008, p. 43 (F+B [color]); Herzog 2002, p. 155 (front); Dassenno 1990, p. 51 (F+B [color]); Charlton 1985, pl. 2 (front); Hadaway 1978, p. 533 (front, 2 details of bottom rib); Boyden 1969, pl. 2 (FB+S); Baines 1966, pl. 88-90 (FB+S); Mucchi 1940, pl. XXX (FB+S)
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Baines 1966, p. 18: 2-piece back, double purfling, original neck and fingerboard. Boyden 1969: table of Cedar of Lebanon (Dassenno 1990: 2-piece), with rose; double purfling front and back; ribs “bordered by a beaded edge.” Original neck and fingerboard; has never had a soundpost; integral bass bar. Topham 2002: wood of table lacks annual rings, hence dendrochronology not useful. Fleming 2011: “fits well with other work by Gasparo”; “certainly made in Brescia,” probably in 4Q16C; intended nominal size “possibly bass” but maybe tenor. Table probably Hazelfichte, with rosette and carved ridges bisecting corner angles [Herzog’s “El Greco” model]; double purfling on table and back. Ribs much deeper at bottom block than sides, with molded external liners (probably glued first to ribs, then back). Fingerboard original, tailpiece not. Carved central bass bar; no soundpost plate, though now has soundpost; crossbars are modern. Dimensions 64.5, 33.9/22.9/41.6, 13.4, 59.1 (widths with calipers). Drawings by John Pringle (1979) formerly available from W.E. Hill & Sons.