DHV:
411
Tourin ID:
KESSLR 2, NESBIT 1
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
Richard
Meares
Date:
1660 C
Label Text:
[None]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
GB
London
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Royal College of Music
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
RCM0936
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Dietrich Kessler [and heirs], c. 1979-2011; on extended loan to Dennis Nesbitt from Mr. [Charles?] Brackenbury (Berwick on Tweed), -c. 1979
Measurements:
Body Length:
66.4
String Length:
69
Rib Depth:
11.3
Upper Width:
30.6
Middle Width:
23
Bottom Width:
37
Information
Source:
Monical 1989, pp. 16-7
Literature:
Mackey 2014; Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 14-15; Soubeyran 2008, p. 27; Kessler 2005, pp. 203-09; BVMA 2000, pp. 254-55; Monical 1989, pp. 16-7; König 1985, p. 31; Kessler 1982, pp. 340-45
Photographs:
On museum’s website (B+S, 3/4, head FB+S, 3/4 [color]); Boothby 2016, booklet p. 9 (front [color]); Fleming & Bryan 2016, pl. 1 (F+B, head 3/4 [color]); MacCracken 2016, p. 205 (back body only); Mackey 2014 (F+B, head 3/4 [color]); Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 14-15 (underside of table, top block, neck mortise); Soubeyran 2008, pp. 26-7 (F+B, head 3/4); Kessler 2005, pp. 203-09 (FB+S, head 3/4, underside of table, top off, details of neck joint, tailpiece [color]); BVMA 2000, pp. 254-55 (F+B, head 3/4 (color); Otterstedt 1994, p. 205 (head 3/4); Monical 1989, pp. 16-17 (FB+S, head 3/4, with table removed); König 1985, pp. 49-52 (F+B, head FB+S); Kessler 1982, pp. 340-43 (front 3/4, underside of table, head side, etc.)
Recordings:
Boothby 2016 (Lawes)
Auctions:
Comments:
Monical 1989: 7-piece table, 2-piece back, both with double purfling. BVMA 2000: Superbly original condition, including bass bar and four pegs (dimensions, taken on back: 66.0, 30.4/22.0/36.65, 11.4, -). Soubeyran 2008: “in almost mint condition, with original neck, fingerboard, tailpiece, 4 of the 6 pegs, plenty of varnish and only one crack in the back;” date “ca 1680”. Iden & Topham 2009: “The only replacement parts are the bridge and 2 pegs.” Restoration included repairing cracks and loose joints in front and back, also adding “small wooden linings round the ribs” instead of original linen strips. Purfling done by left-handed craftsman. David Wilson (The Viol no. 21 [winter 2010-11], p. 11, reporting on a presentation by J. Topham (aided by J. Ryan) at 4th RCM Int’l Festival of Viols (11/10), says current bridge is a copy (from a drawing) “of the original black bridge inlaid with three pearl pieces” kept by Brackenbury. Mackey 2014: ribs unusually narrow; fingerboard sycamore, tailpiece beechwood (beneath ebony veneer); pegs plumwood. Neck mortised into top block and fastened with 2 nails. König 1985 dimensions 120.0, 66.5, 30.8/22.4/36.3, 11.3, 67.0 (date given as c. 1675). Drawing by Stephen Barber [was] available from Dietrich Kessler.