English Guitar
1765 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
William Gibson worked in Dublin and was active from about 1760 until 1790. Like his fellow Dubliner, Thomas Perry (1744-1817), he used ivory fingerboards and metal ring-shaped tuning pegs. The English guitar was wire-strung, tuned in the key of C major and enjoyed a vogue amongst fashionable ladies in the British Isles from about 1750 until 1810.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | planed and joined pine soundboard; planed and joined sycamore back and sides; planed ivory fingerboard with brass frets; carved and planed ebony capotasto |
| Brief description | English guitar, sycamore body and ivory fingerboard, W.Gibson, Dublin, Irish, 1765. |
| Physical description | "A large-sized instrument with pointed shoulders. Back of two pieces of sycamore. Belly of pine, the rose missing. The neck is slightly hollowed on the bass side and carries a nearly flat ivory fingerboard with shaped end, fourteen full frets of brass and two short frets, and five capotasto holes. An ebony capotasto is attached by a brass bolt. The head has an original enclosed worm-gear machine tuning, with brass ring-shaped fingerpieces. The square finial is faced with tortoiseshell in which is set a small silver shield with the initials J.G.D.." Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 50. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Credit line | Given to the Museum by Miss N. Drummond. |
| Object history | This instrument was given to the Museum by Miss N.Drummond in 1919. |
| Summary | William Gibson worked in Dublin and was active from about 1760 until 1790. Like his fellow Dubliner, Thomas Perry (1744-1817), he used ivory fingerboards and metal ring-shaped tuning pegs. The English guitar was wire-strung, tuned in the key of C major and enjoyed a vogue amongst fashionable ladies in the British Isles from about 1750 until 1810. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 50. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.7-1919 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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