Viola da Gamba Society of America

DHV: 284 Tourin ID: GENEV 04 Size: Treble ? Place Made: Maker: CZ Date: Label Text: Body Shape: Viol Current Location: CH Geneva No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Musée d’art et d’histoire Sound Holes: Flame Catalog Number: IM 04 Head: Negro Private Owner: Previous Owner: Fritz Ernst, Geneva, -1969 Measurements: Body Length: 36.1 String Length: 33.8 Rib Depth: 4.9 Upper Width: 19.2 Middle Width: 12.9 Bottom Width: 23.7 Information Source: A.-M. Huwyler toTGM 4+9/24; J. Deferne, 6/10; PT visit 10/78 Literature: Photographs: Museum checklist (F [color]); [by PT: front (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Display photo shows small chin rest; label on wall says “Français, XVIIIe siècle”. Tourin: thin ribs, violin-type neck, possibly original. W. Monical (7/13, from photo): a Prague School viola d’amore. Huwyler (4/24): originally a viola d’amore, “corps français (Paris assez certainement, proche de J.-B. Salomon)”; neck and head of one piece of wood, probably French late 18C; back widths 19.3/12.4/23.6.

DHV: 254 Tourin ID: EIS 06 Size: Violone Place Made: Maker: Date: 17.. ? Label Text: [illegible] Body Shape: Current Location: D Eisenach No. of Strings: -4 Collection: Bach-Haus Sound Holes: F Catalog Number: 38 (formerly 43) Head: Male Private Owner: Previous Owner: Measurements: Body Length: 80.5 String Length: Rib Depth: 12.5 Upper Width: 35.5 Middle Width: Bottom Width: 44.3 Information Source: PT visit 10/78 Literature: Heyde 1976, p.76; Breidert & Freyse 1964, p. 36 Photographs: Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Converted to cello from various 18th-C. parts. Head probably French, c. 1740.

DHV: 966 Tourin ID: Size: Pardessus Place Made: Maker: F Paris Jean Ouvrard Date: 1741 Label Text: Ouvrard Luthier, Place de l’école à Paris, 1741 Body Shape: Viol Current Location: CH Basel No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Private Collection Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Female Private Owner: Yes Previous Owner: Fritz Baumgartner Jr., Basel, -196-. Measurements: Body Length: 33 String Length: 31.2 Rib Depth: 6.2 Upper Width: 15.8 Middle Width: 11 Bottom Width: 19.3 Information Source: JVdGSA 6 (1969), 65; H. Mueller, Methodik des Viola-da-gamba-Spiels (typescript) Literature: JVdGSA 6 (1969)-A, 65 Photographs: [Unpublished, from owner via J. Moran 6/13: FB+S, back body only, head FB+S (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Strung and played by owner as a treble, but smaller than any other French treble with known body length. (Owner to J. Moran, 9/10: admittedly extremely small, but does not sound good in any of the usual pardessus tunings, due to excessive pressure on the table, so musically preferable as a treble.) Double purfling on table and back; La Fille style decoration on pegbox; black pegs, fingerboard, and tailpiece.

DHV: 380 Tourin ID: HART 5 Size: Treble Place Made: Maker: GB London John Rose Date: 1600 C Label Text: [None] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: CDN Toronto, ON No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Hart House, University of Toronto Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Male Private Owner: Previous Owner: Arts & Letters Club and Hart House, Toronto, 1932-35; Massey Foundation et al., Toronto, 1919-32; W. Howard Head, Vancouver, 1910-1919; idem, London Measurements: Body Length: 42.5 String Length: 49.4 Rib Depth: 9.2 Upper Width: 20.5 Middle Width: 14.9 Bottom Width: 25 Information Source: Morton 2010, pp. 51-53; W. Grunsky to G. Lyman 1/64; PT visit (unknown date) Literature: Eatock 2010; Morton 2010, pp. 51-53 Photographs: Morton 2010, pp. 51-52 (FB+SS, head 3/4); Voix Humaines 2009 (head front); [unpublished, from J. Pringle: FB+S body only, head FB+S 3/4 (color)]; [by TGM: in display case 1/07, front 3/4 (color)]; [unpublished, sent to PT: front 3/4] Recordings: Voix Humaines 2009 (Purcell) Auctions: Comments: 2-piece table with low arch, 2-piece back, both with double purfling; ribs also have double purfling outlining each of 6 sections. Now has a tenor neck (too long for body); with proper length, SL perhaps about 44 cm. Once had a fold in lower bout to permit playing on shoulder. Fine Ulysses head, almost identical to that now on Caldwells’ festoon Rose bass. Repair inscription: “Restored pegbox, ribs and back to their original form. Made fingerboard, tailpiece and bridge. G. St. George London 1899.” Morton 2010 (from 1982 appraisal by M. Remenyi): neck is modern, pegbox covered with intricate floral carvings and purfling inlay; (from pre-1982 description by B. Pronger): ribs cut down, probably in 19th C., with second fold to allow playing under chin, and pegbox modified; these changes undone by St. George; dimensions from 1974 appraisal by W. Monical. Attribution to Rose by B. Hebbert, 2009, based on similarity of carved head and texture of maple on back and ribs to 1598 Rose tenor (ASHMOL 5). Tourin dimensions 42.6, 20.5/15.0/25.0, 9.2, 49.5.

DHV: 340 Tourin ID: HAGUE 16 Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: A Absam Jacob Stainer Date: 1670 C Label Text: Jacobus Stainer in Absom / prope Oenipontum Mpia 1661 [handwritten] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: NL The Hague No. of Strings: -4 Collection: Kunstmuseum Den Haag (formerly Gemeentemuseum) Sound Holes: F Catalog Number: MUZ-1933-0405 (0840193); formerly 1001, before that 8 (?) Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: Sammlung Scheurleer, -1933 Measurements: Body Length: String Length: Rib Depth: Upper Width: Middle Width: Bottom Width: Information Source: Senn & Roy 1986, p. 213 (A98); PT visits 6/77 & 9/78 Literature: Senn & Roy 1986, p. 213 Photographs: Senn & Roy 1986, pp. 398-99 (FB+S) Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Converted to a cello; striped back (9 pieces, dark at edges) and ribs (3 pieces, light at edges). Upright F-holes. Neck and scroll not original. Per Benjamin Schröder (via T. Muthesius), label is a facsimile, so date invalid (handwritten labels first appear c. 1667).

DHV: 12 Tourin ID: ANTWP 1 Size: Quinton Place Made: Maker: F Paris Jacques Boquay Date: 1761 ? Label Text: Jacques Boquay Luthier Rue d’Argenteuil / A Paris 1761 Body Shape: Violin Current Location: B Antwerp No. of Strings: 5 Collection: Museum Vleeshuis Sound Holes: F Catalog Number: AV.1960.037.002 (formerly 396) Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: (Purchased in 1960) Measurements: Body Length: String Length: Rib Depth: 9 ? Upper Width: Middle Width: Bottom Width: 20 Information Source: Vleeshuis 1981, p. 137; PT visit 9/78 Literature: Herzog 2003, QT-22; Vleeshuis 1981, p. 137 Photographs: On museum’s website (front [color]); Vleeshuis 1981, p. 137 (front) Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Arched back. 3 pegs treble, 2 bass side. Label date suspect, since Bocquay died in 1730; museum’s website suggests “ca. 1720”.

DHV: 1054 Tourin ID: Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: F Date: 17.. Label Text: Body Shape: Viol Current Location: D Halle No. of Strings: 7 Collection: Händel-Haus Sound Holes: Flame Catalog Number: 226 Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: Measurements: Body Length: 69 String Length: 69.3 Rib Depth: 11.7 Upper Width: 32.7 Middle Width: 24 Bottom Width: 40.2 Information Source: Heyde 1983, pp. 88-9; Saase 1972, pp. 100-01 Literature: Heyde 1983, pp. 88-9; Saase 1972, p. 101 Photographs: Saase 1972, p. 100 (FB+S) Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Saase 1972: Probably French (Mirecourt?), from first half of 18th C. 4-piece table with rosette and ebony-and-ivory edging (also on fingerboard and tailpiece); 1-piece back with no purfling. Soundholes have no upper eyes, and lower ones make a right-angle turn upward. Neck angled back quite sharply. Heyde 1983: Ribs don’t belong to table and back, which overhang them unequally. Black-and-white table rim not original, probably by 19th-C “restorer”; back has painted purfling (and table probably did originally as well). Was converted to cello.

DHV: 1466 Tourin ID: Size: Tenor Place Made: Maker: I Bologna Hieronymus Brensius Date: 1600 C Label Text: Hieronymus Brensius Bonon. Body Shape: Guitar Current Location: A Vienna No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum Sound Holes: C* Catalog Number: SAM 1035 Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: August Wenzinger, Basel, -1996 Measurements: Body Length: 47.3 String Length: 49 Rib Depth: 9.1 Upper Width: 23.1 Middle Width: 17.3 Bottom Width: 27.2 Information Source: R. Hopfner to TGM, 1/08; [TGM visit 12/06] Literature: Photographs: [By TGM, on display: front (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Soundholes are backwards Cs. Hopfner: “With the instrument came a letter from 1957 from Fritz Baumgartner where he states that the examination of the varnish and the label confirms that the parts of the instrument belong together and that it is of Italian origin. [...] A dendrochronological test from 2002 gave no result.” No information available about where and when Wenzinger acquired it. Museum’s display label states that the back and ribs are of an unusual wood, “palisanderänlich”; that the purfling is also unusual (BWBWB); and that there is only one instrument with a comparable label. (Per Lütgendorff 1922, 2:59, this is an undated 5-string Viola da Braccio in the “Liceo filarmonico” [sic] in Bologna; cf. Ferrari 1987, who argues for its classification as a viol.)

DHV: 868 Tourin ID: TROND 1 Size: Pardessus Place Made: Maker: F Paris Pierre François Grosset Date: 1748 Label Text: P.F. Grosset rue de la verrerie / Au Dieu appollon a Paris 1748 [handwritten] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: N Trondheim No. of Strings: 5 Collection: Ringve Museum Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: RMT 132 Head: Female Private Owner: Previous Owner: M. Di Segni, an antique dealer in Nice, France Measurements: Body Length: 33 String Length: 33.6 Rib Depth: 3.9 Upper Width: 16.5 Middle Width: 11.5 Bottom Width: 20.6 Information Source: Museum to TGM, 3/08; Kjeldsberg 1976, p. 40 Literature: Kjeldsberg 1976, p. 40 Photographs: [Unpublished, from museum: FB+S, detail of back and ribs, head 3/4, details of neck graft, part of label through C-hole] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Museum to TGM 3-4/08: Neck and fingerboard not original; clearly visible graft to pegbox. “Belly and ribs decorated [with] India ink,” i.e., floral designs on ribs, and inked purfling on belly. “The back ... with intarsia: a man and a woman and two cupids ... also flower ornaments” and a central stripe with small alternating black-and-white squares. 2 pegs treble, 3 bass side; tail gut. Letter 4/79 from Kjeldsberg to Tourin says probably originally a pardessus, later changed into a quinton. [Does this mean from 6 to 5 strings?] “This can be traced from the inlaid work on the bottom [i.e., back] and the painted decoration on the ribs which indicates that the instrument was made smaller.” [NB, ribs are much shallower than on his 3 other pardessus.] Alternatively, back may be from another, larger instrument. Museum has a separate neck which, according to Kjeldsberg, “undoubtedly must be from Grosset.” Museum to TGM 3-4/08: this neck, RMT 191, has its own pegbox and head, hence probably not the original for RMT 132; V. Bachke acquired it from the same source, simultaneously.

DHV: 524 Tourin ID: LEIPC 02 Size: Tenor Place Made: Maker: D Nuremberg Ernst Busch Date: 16.. Label Text: Ernst Busch / in Nürnberg [printed] Body Shape: Festoon Current Location: D Leipzig No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Universität Leipzig Sound Holes: F Catalog Number: 802 Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: Wilhelm Heyer, Cologne; Paul de Wit, Leipzig Measurements: Body Length: 50.5 String Length: 51.7 Rib Depth: 11.1 Upper Width: 26 Middle Width: 18.7 Bottom Width: 31 Information Source: Martius & Schulze 1991, pp. 168, 180; PT visit 10/78 Literature: MacCracken 2022, p. 88; Martius & Schulze 1991, pp. 168, 180; Rubardt 1955, p. 16; Schultz 1929, p. 69; Kinsky 1912 2:453 Photographs: On museum’s website (front [color]); Martius & Schulze 1991, p. 169 (F+S); Kinsky 1912, 2:448 (front 7/8) Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Martius & Schulze 1991 dimensions 92.0, 50.3, 24.7/17.2/28.9, 10.4, 52.0. Table with 4 wings and double purfling (single on back); fingerboard, tailpiece, and tailgut not original. Kinsky dimensions 92, 50.5, 26/-/30.5, 11, -. (Busch active from 1622; died in 1648.)