DHV:
937
Tourin ID:
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
F
Paris
Michel
Collichon
Date:
1691
Label Text:
Michel Colichon / a Paris 1691 [handwritten]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
CH
Zurich
No. of Strings:
7
Collection:
Private Collection
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
Head:
Pirate
Private Owner:
Yes
Previous Owner:
Dietrich Kessler [& heirs], 1970s-c. 2010; Peter Voigt [violin maker], Linfield, Sussex, -1970s; Beatrix Clare, London, 1947-? (purchased via Leslie Sheppard, Burgess Hill, Sussex); [unnamed building contractor, c. 1932-47]; Mrs. Sullivan [actress], North Sussex, in 1926 (restored by Dolmetsch for her)
Measurements:
Body Length:
71.1
String Length:
71.7
Rib Depth:
12.9
Upper Width:
34.4
Middle Width:
24.7
Bottom Width:
41.2
Information
Source:
TGM visit 10/01; Kessler 1990, pp. 55-62
Literature:
Mackey 2020; Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 17-18; Soubeyran 2008, p. 27; Soubeyran 1996, pp. 131-32; Muthesius 1996, no. 6; Daly 1996, pp. 124-29; Kessler 1990, pp. 55-62
Photographs:
Mackey 2020, pp. 52, 55-57 (top block, head 3/4, underside of table, table ornament, purfling, soundpost plate, bottom block, label [color]); Iden & Topham 2009, pp. 17-18 (underside of table, table ornament, label, bass C-hole, PB+head 3/4); Soubeyran 1996, pp. 131-32 (F+B, head 3/4, bass C-hole [color]); Muthesius 1996, pp. 42, 49-50 (head 3/4 detail, table ornament); Kessler 1990, pp. 60-61 (F+S, underside of table, top block)
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Muthesius 1996, no. 6: 2-piece back of walnut; painted table ornament and perimeter decoration (2 gold lines enclosing a darker line); head and neck heel original; fingerboard and tailpiece new, also pegbox and neck based on no. 8; dimensions 70.8, 33.7/24.3/41.2, 12.9, -. Kessler 1990: Back is walnut; ribs fruitwood, probably cherry; 5-piece table, “like...the other Colichon basses” (spruce). Neck and part of pegbox replaced 1920s by Dolmetsch; again by Kessler, late 1980s; bass bar original (long and angled). Wide range of bridge positions, including at bottom of C’s. Soubeyran 1996 says ribs are plum; viol actually restored by John Topham, for Kessler; made from an outside mould: see Daly 1996; dimensions 71.1, 34.3/24.3/40.9, 13.2, - (all 4 of his photos printed in reverse!). Soubeyran 2008: “though restored to a high degree still has lots of original material on it.” Iden & Topham 2009: acquired “in pure, but poor condition,” with through neck, original bass bar (set at an angle), and parchment reinforcing strips. Upper & lower wings on each side made from same piece of wood; table thicknesses very uneven. New pegs based on Colichon in Geneva. Drawing by Stephen Barber (1988) [was] available from Dietrich Kessler. Mackey 2019 dimensions same as Muthesius 1996.