DHV:
25
Tourin ID:
ASHMOL 4
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
John
Rose
Date:
1600 C
Label Text:
[None]
Body Shape:
Festoon
Current Location:
GB
Oxford
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Ashmolean Museum
Sound Holes:
Flame
Catalog Number:
WA1939.23 (Ash.05); Boyden 4
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Messrs. Arthur and Alfred Hill, London, -1939; a “distinguished family” residing in Madrid (Senor de Landechio in 1929, per D. Hill’s 1968 letter to Ashmolean, copy from MF)
Measurements:
Body Length:
70.6
String Length:
74
Rib Depth:
12.2
Upper Width:
32
Middle Width:
25.5
Bottom Width:
40
Information
Source:
PT visit 6/77; Boyden 1969, pp. 9-11
Literature:
Fleming 2011, pp. 52-61, 78-79; Fleming 2009, p. 119; Topham 2002, pp. 250-51; Fleming 2001: VME 33; Pringle 1978, pp. 508-9; Boyden 1969, pp. 9-11; Baines 1966, p. 18
Photographs:
Hoffmann 2018, p. 36 (back); Fleming & Bryan 2016, p. 87 (purfling detail); Fleming 2011, pp. 52-61 (front 3/4, both sides, F+B body only, head FB+S, bottom rib, details of decoration (color); Fleming 2009, p. 128 (front [color]); Whiteley 2008, p. 17 (front [color]); Fleming 2001: VME F33 (front, body only), L20-21 (front and side details), L41-42 (front) [all color]; König 1985, p. 48 (F+B); Charlton 1985, pl. 3 (front, head side) & front cover (front); Pringle 1978, pp. 508-9 (F+B body only, head back, treble soundhole, bass rib detail); Boyden 1969, pl. 4 (FB+S, head FB+S); Baines 1966, pl. 97 (front 3/4)
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Boyden 1969: center of table painted with arms of Sir Charles Somerset (c. 1585-1665); analysis suggests not before 1598; arms on back of pegbox are unrelated. Back and ribs of rosewood. Fingerboard, neck, pegbox, and head are original [but see below]; pegs are not. Fleming 2001: 7-piece table, double purfling front and back; dimensions 70.4, 31.8/25.1, 40.0, 12.6, -. Topham 2002: dates of youngest ring in table are 1556, 1503, and 1553 for bass inner, center, and treble inner staves respectively, all from same tree. Fleming 2011: “of outstandingly high quality”; attribution to Rose (Sr. or Jr.) plausible but speculative. Similarities to VME 29 (also attrib. to Rose) “strongly suggest they came from the same workshop”; also closely matches wood and decoration of VME 01 (Gill) and wood of VME 16 (Strong). 5-piece table; unclear if coat of arms painted in 16C or 17C; perimeter purfling 5-ply but decorative 3-ply. Back and ribs probably of burr elm (certainly not rosewood); interior linings and crossbars not original; neck modern, head and pegbox for 7 strings are 18C French; dimensions 70.4, 31.8/25.1/40.0, 12.6, 74.3 (widths with callipers). Drawing by John Pringle (1978) formerly available from W.E. Hill & Sons.