Viola da Gamba Society of America

DHV: 294 Tourin ID: GENEV 14 Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: F Paris Michel Collichon Date: 1693 Label Text: Michel Colichon / aParis 1693 [handwritten] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: CH Geneva No. of Strings: 7 Collection: Musée d’art et d’histoire Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: IM 18 Head: Pirate Private Owner: Previous Owner: Fritz Ernst, Geneva, -1969; ... V. Bernardel, Paris, c. 1900? Measurements: Body Length: 69.9 String Length: 72 Rib Depth: 12.5 Upper Width: 32.5 Middle Width: 24.5 Bottom Width: 40 Information Source: Muthesius 1996, no. 8; PT visit 10/78 Literature: Mackey 2020; Mackey 2017 (and e-mail 2/17); Muthesius 1996; Kessler 1990, p. 56; Jacquot 1900, p. 107 Photographs: On museum’s website (F+B, 3/4, head 3/4 + side, label [color]); museum checklist (F [color]); Mackey 2020, p. 55 (top block, head side [color]); Mackey 2017, pp. 53-55 (F+B, side 3/4, head F+S [color]); Jacquot 1900, facing p. 8 (front); [unpublished, from MB Winn 3/13: front full length, C-bouts (color)]; [by PT: front 3/4, head 3/4 (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Muthesius 1996, no. 8: shows clear signs of use; head original. Website: body is walnut. Mackey 2017: 5-piece table in the English manner; back and ribs of walnut; bottom block, bass bar, and table linings of cedrela; in unaltered condition, apart from the bridge and some structural repairs. Muthesius dimensions 68.9, 31.9/23.3/39.2, -, - (on back); Mackey, from e-mail: 69.8, 31.9/23.4/39.3, 12.4, 72.0 (back widths 31.9/23.3/39.2: “uncanny correlation!”). A.-M. Huwyler (e-mail 9/24) dimensions: 69.8, 32.4/24.3/39.7, 12.4, 71.8.

DHV: 1066 Tourin ID: Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: GB London Barak Norman Date: 1680 C Label Text: [None] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: D Cologne No. of Strings: 7 Collection: Private Collection Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Putto Private Owner: Yes Previous Owner: Charles Medlam, Hollington UK, 2007-c. 2020; Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vienna, c. 1965-2007; cellist in Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Measurements: Body Length: 64.2 String Length: 69.6 Rib Depth: 12.6 Upper Width: 32 Middle Width: 24 Bottom Width: 38.4 Information Source: S. Diniz to TGM, 12/24; Medlam to TGM, 8/08; Harnoncourt 1965a (Florid-Song) Literature: Photographs: Medlam 2010 (back center ornament [color]); Harnoncourt 1965 (Bach St. John), no. 13 (front 7/8); Harnoncourt 1965a, no. 9 (front 7/8); [unpublished, from Medlam 8/08: front, back body only, head 3/4; also 8/12: underside of table during restoration (color)] Recordings: Zipperling 2021 (Telemann); Medlam 2010 (French solo); Harnoncourt 1965 (Bach St. John), no. 58; Harnoncourt 1965a (Florid-Song) Auctions: Comments: 5-piece table plus wings, with double purfling and central ornament; 2-piece back with floral ornaments at top and bottom, diamond pattern plus flowers NSEW in center. New, wider neck, etc., by John Topham, 2007. Attribution to Norman by B. Hebbert, based on similarity to BN 1689 (= HER 1). Medlam: “Harnoncourt bought the instrument, then with cello neck, in about 1965 from Vidoudez in Geneva and it was restored ... by Kren in Vienna soon after. It had belonged to a cellist in the Suisse Romande Orchestra. It was decided to give it 7 strings although it was more likely to have started life with 6. The head came off the ‘cello’ and is thought to be original.” On Harnoncourt 1965a (Florid-Song) actually played by either E. Kubizek or H. Höbarth, whoever doesn’t play the Precheisn.

DHV: 552 Tourin ID: LINZ 3 Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: A Vienna Hanns Khögl Date: 1671 Label Text: Hanns Kögl Lautten / und geigenmacher in / Wienn Anno 1671 [handwritten] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: A Linz No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Mu 198 (formerly 29) Head: Head Private Owner: Previous Owner: Measurements: Body Length: 67 String Length: 71.5 Rib Depth: 13.1 Upper Width: 29.2 Middle Width: 22 Bottom Width: 38.3 Information Source: Martius 2001; PT visit 9/78 Literature: Martius 2001, esp. p. 15; Wessely 1952 Photographs: Martius 2001, p. 16 (front); Bletschacher 1978, p. 136 (front); [by PT: front 3/4 (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Rosette; heart-shaped opening in tailpiece. C-holes near edges. Back of bird’s-eye maple. Top string peg closest to nut. Wessely 1952 dimensions: 71, 29/-/38, 14, -. Martius 2001 implies that neck is not original, unlike LINZ 4; disagrees with Lütgendorff’s statement that this handwritten label is not original. (Tourin’s photo shows 9 frets.)

DHV: 601 Tourin ID: MFA 1, LOAN 19 Size: Pardessus Place Made: Maker: F Paris Benoist Fleury Date: 1752 Label Text: Benoit Fleury rue des Boucheries / Faubourg St. Germain a Paris, 1752 [printed except 52]; FLEURY [stamped on button] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: USA Boston, MA No. of Strings: 5 Collection: Museum of Fine Arts Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: 1917.1712 (formerly 271) Head: Cherub Private Owner: Previous Owner: Francis W.Galpin, -1916 Measurements: Body Length: 32.6 String Length: 31.2 Rib Depth: 5.3 Upper Width: 15.7 Middle Width: 11.3 Bottom Width: 19.8 Information Source: Museum data sheet Literature: Lambert 1983, p. 18; Galpin 1972, p. 17; Bessaraboff 1941, pp. 275-76; Loan 1904, p. 149; Loan 1900, p. 28 Photographs: On museum’s website (front [color]); Bessaraboff 1941, pl. XI (front); Galpin 1937, pl. VI.6 (front); [unpublished, from museum: front, back 3/4, side 7/8, head F+B, bottom rib; from D. Kuronen 5/15: back (color)]; [by TGM, on display: front (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Striped ribs: 2 maple, 1 walnut (Bessaraboff); 1 = pear (Zuchowicz). Back not striped, but divided into 4 sections by 3 vertical lines of purfling (side lines not completely parallel to center). Inlaid ebony heart on table below end of fingerboard; single purfling front and back. 2 pegs treble, 3 bass side. Bessaraboff: pegbox and top block both integral with neck (but Dominik Zuchowicz, in notes in museum file, says neck nailed to block). Restored 1961 by Donald Warnock, including complete revarnishing, also pegs, bridge, tailpiece; also restored 1965 by Lloyd Adams (who removed top for crack repair, etc.). Listed in Loan 1904 and Galpin 1937 (also by Lütgendorff) with date 1764 (in 1904 as treble, in 1937 as “quinton viol”).

DHV: 654 Tourin ID: NIGGE 1 Size: Treble ? Place Made: Maker: D Munich Caspar Stadler Date: 1727 Label Text: Body Shape: Viol Current Location: D Stuttgart No. of Strings: 5 Collection: Private Collection Sound Holes: Flame Catalog Number: Head: Scroll Private Owner: Yes Previous Owner: Bought from Hamma & Co., Stuttgart, c. 1953 Measurements: Body Length: 40 String Length: 36 Rib Depth: 6 Upper Width: 18.5 Middle Width: 13 Bottom Width: 23 Information Source: G. Niggemann to PT 3/77 Literature: Focht 2006, p. 109 Photographs: [Unpublished, from owner: front (color)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Owner thinks probably originally a quinton (Tourin: possible d’amore). Focht 2006: Diskantgambe oder Viola d’amore; one of 4 extant instruments by this maker (others: 1702 viola, 1714 d’amore, 1714 cello). Body very similar to 1714 d’amore (6+6, = Nuremberg MI 208), but soundholes different.

DHV: 1103 Tourin ID: Size: Treble Place Made: Maker: Date: Label Text: Body Shape: Viol Current Location: No. of Strings: -4 Collection: Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: Measurements: Body Length: 39.3 String Length: Rib Depth: Upper Width: Middle Width: Bottom Width: Information Source: Sotheby’s 7/4/85, lot 63 Literature: Sotheby’s 7/4/85, lot 63 Photographs: Sotheby’s 7/4/85, lot 63 (front) Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Sotheby’s 1985/07/04, lot 63 “A Viola converted from a Treble Viola da Gamba”. One-piece back.

DHV: 134 Tourin ID: BRIQUE 4 Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: F Lyon René Imber Date: Label Text: Faite par Imber, à Lyon Body Shape: Viol Current Location: No. of Strings: 7 Collection: BRIQUEVILLE 4 Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Satyr Private Owner: Previous Owner: Count Eugène de Bricqueville, Versailles, -after 1895 Measurements: Body Length: String Length: Rib Depth: Upper Width: Middle Width: Bottom Width: Information Source: Bricqueville 1895, p. 6; Bricqueville 1893, p. 7 Literature: Bricqueville 1895, p. 6; Bricqueville 1893, p. 7 Photographs: [Unpublished, made for Bricqueville in 1895, from Sinier de Ridder 5/25 (front)] Recordings: Auctions: Comments: Striped back; rosette on table. Probably not the same as LUZ 3: this one had a striped back with double purfling [“le fond à bandes, double filet”] and that one has a two-piece back with no purfling.

DHV: 1554 Tourin ID: Size: Bass Place Made: Maker: F Niort Auguste Tolbecque Date: 1900 C Label Text: Body Shape: Festoon Current Location: F Niort No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Musée Bernard d'Agesci Sound Holes: Flame Catalog Number: 995.39.1 Head: Male Private Owner: Previous Owner: Measurements: Body Length: 78.5 String Length: 76 Rib Depth: 13.6 Upper Width: 35.7 Middle Width: Bottom Width: 42.2 Information Source: Museum’s website Literature: Museum’s website Photographs: On museum’s website (front [color]); Coin 2020, p. 5 (FB+S [color]) Recordings: Coin 2020 (Homage à Tolbecque; track 16 only) Auctions: Comments: Square shoulders; upper bouts form pronounced S-curves ending in downward-pointing corners; no outer corners below waist; one pair of inner corners (dimples) in lower bouts. Supposedly based on an instrument from the former Petit collection, now at the Musée de la Musique in Paris (perhaps E.790, a treble by Martino Heel, with less exaggerated upper bouts and soundholes?). 1-piece back, ribs, and neck of red walnut, all with painted Renaissance-style floral decoration; painted coat of arms (fake?) on table; black-and-white edging. Sculpted tailpiece, diagonal end of fingerboard. Sold at maker’s estate sale in 1922. Museum’s website: “restauré en vue du centenaire de la mort d'Auguste Tolbecque [en 2019].”

DHV: 272 Tourin ID: GAL 05, GALP 2, HALES 1 Size: Treble Place Made: Maker: GB London Barak Norman Date: 1700 C Label Text: Barak Norman London Fecit [stamped on table] Body Shape: Viol Current Location: I Florence No. of Strings: 6 Collection: Private Collection Sound Holes: C Catalog Number: Head: Scroll Private Owner: Yes Previous Owner: Arianne Maurette, 1980-c. 2023; The Viola da Gamba Society (1965-80); Millicent Hales (c. 1950-65); Arnold Dolmetsch Measurements: Body Length: 39.4 String Length: 36 Rib Depth: 6 Upper Width: 18.7 Middle Width: 13.5 Bottom Width: 23.6 Information Source: J. Kraft drawing seen 9/02; Sotheby’s 5/22/80, lot 379 Literature: Hebbert 2001, p. 311 (X:20); Wells 1980, p. 517; Sotheby’s 5/22/80, lot 379; Galpin Society 1968, p. 77 (no. 587); Galpin Society 1951 (no. 505) Photographs: Sotheby’s 5/22/80, lot 379 (F+B); [unpublished, from J. Kraft 9/02: FB+S body only (color)]; [unpublished, in Heale Archive, on display in 1951: front 3/4] Recordings: [4 dating from 1982-95, including 2 with Ensemble Isabella d’Este] Auctions: Comments: Sotheby’s 1980/05/22, lot 379 Table ornament Type IX (unique); back center none, above and below Type I, plus V at neck; double purfling front and back. Sotheby’s: length of back 39.7; carved head by Arnold Dolmetsch. Repaired for present owner by J. Kraft, whose photos show that back was once folded at bottom as well as at top; black fingerboard with blond perimeter line; dimensions from drawing, so not over arching. Galpin 1968: “Depth of ribs at tail-piece 7.5 cms” [sic], c. 1690; body length 41.5, string length 35.5. Galpin 1951: “Labeled and stamped with maker’s crest,” c. 1700. M. Hales to G. Lyman 2/64: dimensions 42.2, 19.1/13.7/22.2, 6.7, 36.5 (converted from inches); closed scroll. “Arnold Dolmetsch...supplied it to Miss Hales about 1950”: John Catch, letter to editor of Chelys 23 (1994), 90. Bequeathed to the VdGS by M. Hales; sold by the VdGS at Sotheby’s in 1980. VdGS News Bulletin No. 13 (April 1975): “Mr. Kessler described the viol as probably an alto by Barak Norman.... The body is substantially original, the rest by Dolmetsch. ... The front is in three pieces.”

DHV: 1590 Tourin ID: Size: Quinton Place Made: Maker: F Paris Nicolas Chappuy Date: 17.. Label Text: “N. CHAPPUY” branded at button; no label Body Shape: Violin Current Location: USA New Haven, CT No. of Strings: 5 Collection: Yale University Sound Holes: F Catalog Number: 4678 Head: Scroll Private Owner: Previous Owner: Andrew Petryn, (New Haven, CT), -2011 Measurements: Body Length: 37.5 String Length: Rib Depth: 3.3 Upper Width: 16.7 Middle Width: 11.2 Bottom Width: 20.8 Information Source: Dipper 2012; Yale 2011, p. 3 [and e-mails from museum] Literature: Dipper 2012; Yale 2011, p. 3 Photographs: On museum’s website (FB+S [color]); MacCracken 2017, p. 67 (front); Dipper 2012 (F++B, head F+S, brand stamp, 66 details before & during restoration [color]); Yale 2011, p. 3 Recordings: Auctions: Comments: 2 pegs treble, 3 bass side; “ca. 1770”. Restored by Andrew Dipper, 2012: 3 new pegs, tailpiece, bridge, repair of cracks and shrinkage. Website: varnish is original. (Nicolas Chappuy active 1733-81.)