Viola D'amore
about 1750 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the viola d'amore was particularly popular throughout Italy and Central Europe, and noted for its sweet tone. It usually had seven gut strings, played with a bow, and six or seven 'sympathetic' strings which were placed underneath the fingerboard and responded to the vibration. The holes in the soundboard were usually shaped like a flame rather than an S- or C-scroll. The peg-box of this example takes the form of a blind-folded Cupid, symbolising the blindness of love.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Joined and planed sycamore body and neck; planed ebony fingerboard; joined and planed pine sound board, with ebony purfling (bordering). |
| Brief description | German, about 1750, with flame holes, arrow-shaped tuning pegs and finial in the form of a blindfolded Cupid. |
| Physical description | 'Belly of three pieces of pine, with poorly cut 'flame' holes and raised ebony purfling [bordering], Flat back of two pieces of sycamore. The neck has been re-set with a packing wedge at the root. The pegbox has a closed back and a carved blindfolded boy. Thirteen crude pegs of black-stained wood, for seven gut strings and six wire sympathetics, the latter passing outside the back of the pegbox into the hollowed neck'. Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p 11. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | This instrument formed part of the collections of Carl Engel and when it was acquired by the South Kensington Museum in 1882, it was valued at at £4. |
| Summary | During the 17th and 18th centuries, the viola d'amore was particularly popular throughout Italy and Central Europe, and noted for its sweet tone. It usually had seven gut strings, played with a bow, and six or seven 'sympathetic' strings which were placed underneath the fingerboard and responded to the vibration. The holes in the soundboard were usually shaped like a flame rather than an S- or C-scroll. The peg-box of this example takes the form of a blind-folded Cupid, symbolising the blindness of love. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 11. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 161-1882 |
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| Record created | April 1, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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