DHV:
955
Tourin ID:
Size:
Bass
Place Made:
Maker:
GB
London
George
Gibs
Date:
1598 ?
Label Text:
George Gibs / London fecit / 15988 [handwritten; seemingly sic with 5 digits]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
USA
Bronx, NY
No. of Strings:
7
Collection:
Private Collection
Sound Holes:
C
Catalog Number:
Head:
Male
Private Owner:
Yes
Previous Owner:
Lloyd Smith, Philadelphia, c. 1984-95; Emile Français, Paris
Measurements:
Body Length:
69.2
String Length:
68.5
Rib Depth:
12.2
Upper Width:
30.8
Middle Width:
22.4
Bottom Width:
38.8
Information
Source:
TGM visit 1/10; Monical 1989, pp. 20-21; Sotheby’s 6/21/84, lot 45
Literature:
Hebbert 2003a, p. 72; Monical 1989, pp. 20-21; Montagu 1984, p. 533; Sotheby’s 6/21/84, lot 45
Photographs:
Fleming & Bryan 2016, p. 67 (label); Fleming 2001, photo L83 (label); Monical 1989, pp. 20-21 (FB+S, head 3/4, rosette, bass C-hole); Sotheby’s 6/21/84, lot 45 (F+B [color]); [by TGM: FB+S, rosette, label (color)]
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Sotheby’s 1984/06/21, lot 45
Sotheby’s 1984: ribs of yew, [7-piece] striped back of yew and burr maple; parchment rosette in table; body length 68.6 cm. Montagu 1984: “much of it appeared to be 18th-century French.” Monical 1989: date 1688; 6-piece table of cedar, 7-piece striped back (plum and burl maple), plum ribs. 18C French replacement neck had been narrowed; worm damage in neck foot; replaced in 1980s (with fingerboard, tailpiece, pegs); previous string length approx. 73 cm; dimensions then 69.1, 31.0/22.4/38.1, 12.2, 69.1. Hebbert 2003: date of 1688 “is inconceivable on multiple stylistic grounds” (+ to TGM 2/10: second digit is a typical and elegant Tudor-era 5; intended date probably 1598). TGM visit: double purfling on front and (in reverse colors) on each dark stripe of back; single (and narrower) on ribs. Floral carvings on back and sides of pegbox (probably old); tail gut. Fleming 2001, L83 is photo (not tracing) of label from Hill Archive, attached to a different piece of wood than it is now.