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DHV:
410
Tourin ID:
KESSLR 1, LOAN 21

Size:

Bass

Place Made:

Maker:

GB

London (Southwark)

Henry

Jaye

Date:

1619

Label Text:

HENRIE: JAY: IN: / SOVTHWARKE: / 1619 [handwritten]

Body Shape:

Viol

Current Location:

GB

London

No. of Strings:

6

Collection:

Royal College of Music

Sound Holes:

C

Catalog Number:

RCM0935

Head:

Male

Private Owner:

Previous Owner:

Dietrich Kessler [and heirs], 1982-2011; John Pringle, London, c. 1978-1982; W.E. Hill & Sons, London, 1901-c. 1978; [convent in Lisbon]

Measurements:

Body Length:

72.1

String Length:

75

Rib Depth:

13.9

Upper Width:

34

Middle Width:

24.8

Bottom Width:

39.8

Information

Source:

Monical 1989, pp. 14-5

Literature:

Wilson 2012, pp. 16-17; Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 12-13; Pinto 2008; Soubeyran 2008, p. 27; Dilworth 2007; Fleming 2007, p. 31 (JP 21); Fleming 2001: VME 37; BVMA 2000, pp. 228-29; Monical 1989, pp. 14-15; Baines 1966, p. 18; Loan 1904, p. 152

Photographs:

On museum’s website (FB+S, 3/4, head B+S, 3/4 [color]); Fleming & Bryan 2016, pl. 2 (F+B), pl. 5 (head B+S), pl. 8 (head side), pl. 16 (label) [color]); Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 12-13 (underside of table, top & bottom blocks, neck mortise, inside rib corner detail); Pinto 2008 (head side); Fleming et al. 2007 (front, back body only, head side, bass C-hole); Dilworth 2007 (F+S, head 3/4, 2 details of top block, inside body corner (color); Fleming 2007, pp. 25-27 (front, back body only, head side, bass C-hole); Fleming 2001: VME F37 (front body only), L32 (hookbar), L53 (head back and side) [all color]; BVMA 2000, pp. 228-29 (F+B, head 3/4 [color]); Otterstedt 1994, pp. 100-102 (FB+S [color]), 204 (head 3/4); Monical 1989, pp. 14-5 (FB+S, head 3/4, top block); Harwood 1981, p. 472 (front 3/4); Baines 1966, pl. 98-9 (front, back 3/4); [unpublished, from J. Pringle: F+B, label]

Recordings:

Auctions:

Comments:

Monical 1989: Original neck, 7-piece table, linen liners. BVMA 2000: discovered by Alfred Hill in Lisbon in late 19th C (dimensions, on back: 71.6, 33.75/24.2/40.0, 14.0, -). Fleming 2001: double purfling front and back. “All major body parts including neck and fingerboard are original and in good condition.” Table ornament plus inlaid diamond pattern all around edges; back and ribs completely covered with diamond-shaped inlays. Dilworth 2007: Back and ribs are slab-cut; neck is both (loosely) morticed and nailed. Unprecedented intensity of red varnish. “It occupied the window of the Hills’ New Bond Street showroom for many years.” Soubeyran 2008: “the best preserved of known extant Jaye viols.” Iden & Topham 2009: only tailpiece, bass bar and pegs not original; neck unusually narrow; most of original varnish survives. Restoration included half-edging the table and adding a central patch, replacing non-original bass bar, also soundpost plate and “some central strengthening strips”, and crack repair. Wilson 2012 (summarizing lecture by Hebbert at VdGS meeting 6/12): carved head represents Marsyas flayed alive by Apollo; cf. Titian’s painting, acquired by Countess of Arundel in 1619. Drawing by John Pringle [was] available from Dietrich Kessler.

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