DHV:
711
Tourin ID:
PARIS 21
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
Barak
Norman
Date:
1723
Label Text:
Barak Norman / at the Bass Viol in / St Pauls Church yd / London Fecit 1723; Barak / Norman / London [stamped on table]; BN monogram in center of back
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
F
Paris
No. of Strings:
7
Collection:
Musée de la musique
Sound Holes:
F
Catalog Number:
E.1080 (formerly C.1038)
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
M Mannheim, -1887; Charles Voillemot, Paris, -1886
Measurements:
Body Length:
66.5
String Length:
61?
Rib Depth:
11.7
Upper Width:
31
Middle Width:
23.8
Bottom Width:
37.4
Information
Source:
Museum’s website; Gétreau 1996, p. 677; PT visits 6/77 & 9/78
Literature:
Hebbert 2001, pp. 306-07 (1723:1); Gétreau 1996, pp. 254, 677; Pillaut 1894, p. 9
Photographs:
On museum’s website (FB+S, head side; front 7/8, head 3/4 [color]); Clemencic n.d., p. 70 (FB+S); [unpublished, in Heale Archive: B+S full length, F+B body only, head FB+S, label through soundhole]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
F-holes recut from C-holes; 3-piece table, 2-piece back, double purfling. Table ornament Type VI, back center BN monogram, upper and lower large and unusual fleurs de lys, plus smaller ones at 4 corners (also on pegs and tailpiece). Hebbert 2001: “correctly set up for seven strings...possibly for a French customer.” Also (pvt. comm., 11/05), head does not belong to pegbox; plain fingerboard and inlaid, sculpted tailpiece also not original. Museum’s dimensions 66.5, 29.0/-/37.0, 12.0, -. Tourin estimated string length as 60-62, noting neck not original (and too short).