DHV:
944
Tourin ID:
Size:
Treble
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London (Holborne)
Henry
Smith
Date:
1623
Label Text:
Henry Smith over against Hatton House in Holbourne 1623
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
GB
Kilmarnock
No. of Strings:
6
Collection:
Dean Castle
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
61
Head:
Female
Private Owner:
Previous Owner:
Lord Howard de Walden, -1975; his father’s father-in-law, Charles van Raalte (d. 1908)
Measurements:
Body Length:
44.6
String Length:
Rib Depth:
8.9
Upper Width:
21
Middle Width:
15.4
Bottom Width:
26
Information
Source:
R. Rose to TGM, 8/08; Bevan 1990, p. 40; Downing 1981, p. 68
Literature:
Bevan 1990, p. 40; Downing 1981, p. 68
Photographs:
On museum’s website (and minim.ac.uk) (front 3/4 [color]); Fleming 2001: VME L59 (front, back 3/4, rosette [color])
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Largest extant English treble; too small to call a tenor. Double purfling front and back; back also has diamond pattern at bottom connecting to two slightly converging lines either side of center joint, very similar to 1629 Smith bass (METRO 7). Rosette with 4-pointed purfling border, now under fingerboard. Rose: 2-piece carved table; original neck shortened with a V joint; original pegbox and head; head similar to 1637 Smith bass, purfling similar to 1629 Smith bass; fingerboard and tailpiece (with tailgut) not original. Inventory by auction firm in 1975 (Downing, FoMRHI Q24, 7/81) says new neck and fingerboard, converted to a viola; back length 17-5/8” = 44.8 cm. But Fleming’s photos show six pegs and strings, albeit with fold at bottom of back as well as at top (and also narrowed neck?).