Guitar
about 1840 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Spanish guitars were made in London from about 1815 onwards. Fernando Sor (1778-1839), the Spanish virtuoso and composer, came to England in that year and helped spread the popularity of this instrument. Among the earliest London-based makers of Spanish guitars was the highly influential Louis Panormo (1784-1862).This example could either have been made in his workshop or by a London maker working in his style.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | planed and joined rosewood back, planed rosewood sides; spruce soundboard; rosewood fingerboard with nickel-silver frets; mother-of-pearl patterns along edge of soundboard. |
| Brief description | English, rosewood back and sides, mother-or-peral bordering, workshop of Louis Panormo, 1830-40. |
| Physical description | 'Back of four pieces of rosewood with intervening stringing in two woods. The sides similarly constructed. The belly is of two pieces of spruce, with geometrical decoration round the soundhole in mother-of-pearl and various other woods. Spanish bridge is for six single strings. Slipper neck block. Plain neck with rosewood fingerboard, seventeen nickel-silver frets, and wedge-shaped head with machine tuning stamped with a design and VR surmounted by a crown' - Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 60. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | VR and Crown (stamped on the plate to which the machine-heads are attached.) |
| Credit line | Given by H. Manders, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S. |
| Object history | The guitar was given to the Museum by H. Manders, Esq., M.D., F.R.C.S. in 1929. |
| Production | Although the attribution of this instrument to Louis Panormo is now desputed, it is thought that this instrument could still be 'school of' or 'workshop of'' Louis Panormo (1784-1862). |
| Summary | Spanish guitars were made in London from about 1815 onwards. Fernando Sor (1778-1839), the Spanish virtuoso and composer, came to England in that year and helped spread the popularity of this instrument. Among the earliest London-based makers of Spanish guitars was the highly influential Louis Panormo (1784-1862).This example could either have been made in his workshop or by a London maker working in his style. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 60. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.290-1929 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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