DHV:
747
Tourin ID:
RCM 4
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
D
Greifswald
Jeremias [II]
Würffel
Date:
1710
Label Text:
Ein 60 jährig man / hat mich erdacht / auch selbst gemacht / Anno 1710 / in / Greifswald / J. Würffel / Die erste auff diese / Mannier [handwritten]; see also in comments field.
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
GB
London
No. of Strings:
7
Collection:
Royal College of Music
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
RCM0044
Head:
Head
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Sir George Donaldson, -1894
Measurements:
Body Length:
66.8
String Length:
69.2
Rib Depth:
9.8
Upper Width:
25.8
Middle Width:
17.9
Bottom Width:
30
Information
Source:
Wells & Nobbs 2007, pp. 140-41; TGM visit 10/01; PT visit 9/78
Literature:
Wells & Nobbs 2007, pp. 140-41; Mullen 2006, p. 24; Loan 1885, p. 2
Photographs:
On museum’s website (F+B [color]; label, interior through door); Wells & Nobbs 2007, pp. 12 (front [color]) and 140-41 (FB+S, neck heel, label, interior through door); Mullen 2006, p. 24; König 1985, p. 109 (F+B)
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Narrow body shape with dimples in shoulders. 2-piece table (not matched) with single purfling (but wood outside track is edging, not same as table) and inlays under fingerboard and next to hookbar; soundholes very long and thin, with no upper eyes and slight squiggle just above lower eyes. 2-piece back with double painted purfling and decoration along center joint. Hinged door in lower bass rib; neck unscrews to store inside body (!); raised marker notches for bridge feet on table, also sockets for top and bottom ends of soundpost, to ensure correct placement when reassembled. Pegbox is flat and solid except for slots where strings wind onto pegs; very small head, unisex human. Fingerboard and tailpiece of reddish wood, with rectangular inlays of subtly different color in 3 columns (FB 6 rows, TP 4 rows). Second, printed label on rib door: “Viol de Gamba; / Die erste auff diese Manier / hat mich erdacht / Auch selbst gemacht / Ein sechzig-Jähriger Mann / In / Greifswald / Jeremias Würffel / Stadt und Universität bestallter Musicus Instrumental, / Anno 1710. Rib height 9.8 at center bout; only 9.4 at bottom block. Wells & Nobbs 2007: back and ribs of walnut; fingerboard inlay of walnut and ?plum; matching tailpiece and bridge by D. Kessler (1970s); dimensions 66.3, 25.0/16.8/30.0, 9.6, 69.0.