DHV:
603
Tourin ID:
MFA 3, LOAN 4
Size:
Tenor
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
Richard
Blunt
Date:
1600 C
Label Text:
[None]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
USA
Boston, MA
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Museum of Fine Arts
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
1917.1718 (formerly 273)
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Francis W. Galpin, -1916
Measurements:
Body Length:
56
String Length:
59.6
Rib Depth:
10.7
Upper Width:
27
Middle Width:
19.5
Bottom Width:
31.8
Information
Source:
TGM visits 2/93, 6/02; museum data sheet
Literature:
MacCracken 2011; Fleming 2001: VME 22; Lambert 1983, p. 17; Galpin 1972, pp. 18-19; Vannes 1999, p. 2 (s.v. Addison); Bessaraboff 1941, pp. 276-7; Lütgendorff 1922; Loan 1904, p. 148
Photographs:
On museum’s website (front [color]); MacCracken 2011, p. 47 (FB+S); Fleming 2001: VME F22 (front body only), L26 (pegbox back), L27 (back, lower rib), L32 (hookbar) [all color except L32]; Woodfill 1953, facing p. 49 (front); Bessaraboff 1941, pl. XI (front); Galpin 1937, pl. VI.8 (front); MFA 1917, fig. 12 (front 7/8); [by TGM: FB+S, head F+B]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Loan 1904 and Bessaraboff 1941: lyra viol. Galpin’s own checklist from 1880s says “Within is written in very faint ink: (W.) Addison fecit Londini 1665” (Galpin 1972, p. 18). TGM visit: this inscription no longer discernible, and instrument does not resemble 1670 Addison bass. Fingerboard has 20 inlaid German silver frets. Table probably 5-piece, but assymetrically divided; back 2-piece; both with double purfling. Blindfolded female head clearly grafted onto pegbox; bad break between pegbox and neck crudely repaired by a curved metal plate held in place with 13 screws. Repair label: “Restored by John A. Gould & Sons / Established 1889 / Violin Makers, Dealers and Repairers / Boston, Massachusetts” [printed, with handwritten addendum: “Two new cross bars; six / new linings, and crack / stays inserted. June 1936”. Michael Fleming recognized (6/99, initially from photos) that wood of back is nearly identical to tenor/small bass by Richard Blunt (1605), ASHMOL 6; museum has since accepted this reattribution. Fleming 2001: Mostly original, possibly including neck (but not head), though much damaged; dimensions 56.0, 27.1/19.5/32.9, 10.6, -.