DHV:
1137
Tourin ID:
Size:
Bass
Label Text:
Place Made:
I, Naples ?
Maker:
Date:
17..
[illegible, handwritten]
Body Shape:
Viol
Current Location:
F,
Sound Holes:
C
Collection:
Private collection
No. of Strings:
6
Catalog Number:
Head:
Open scroll
Previous Owner:
Emmanuel Balssa; “un professeur japonais”; Sotheby’s 1979
Measurements:
Body Length:
72
String Length:
71
Rib Depth:
11
Upper Width:
34.5
Middle Width:
24
Bottom Width:
44
Information Source:
S. Moquet, 1/14; Sotheby’s (NY) 6/26/79, lot 157
Literature:
Photographs:
Recordings:
Auctions:
Comments:
Wells 1979, p. 525; Sotheby’s (NY) 6/26/79, lot 157
[From S. Moquet 1/14: F+B, head side [color]); Sotheby’s (NY) 6/26/79, lot 157
Sotheby’s 1979/06/26, lot 157 (NY)
Back has central 8-pointed star in circle, table has matching design; extensive additional geometic inlaid designs on back, ribs, pegbox, fingerboard, and tailpiece. C holes large and not near edges. Shoulders sloping but rather square. Length of back 71.1 cm. Wells 1979: “an enigmatic bass viol catalogued as probably Neapolitan and undoubtedly dating from the first half of the 18th century.” Moquet 1/14: illegible parchment label (handwritten on 3 lines, the second ending with “fecit”); previous bridge by Jacques Francais; dendrochronology suggests 2H18C. Widely-separated double purfling on back (not sure about front); diagonal top edge of tailpiece.