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Cittern

1800 - 1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The cittern is a wire-strung instrument, strummed or plucked with a plectrum or quill, like the one that was acquired at the same time as this instrument, which is a rare survival. This version of the cittern was used as a folk instrument in Germany, especially Thuringia and the Hartz mountains, where it was known as a Waldzither.


Object details

Category
Object type
Materials and techniques
joined, carved and planed pine soundboard, back and sides, brass frets
Brief description
Pine body, with quill plectrum, German, 1830-50
Physical description
'Belly, back and sides of pine, the plates overhanging the sides. A crudely carved rose. The sides are of even depth and at each side by the neck is applied a halved turned wooden rod, distantly recalling the halved balusters of earlier citterns. Offset neck surmounted by a fingerboard with twelve brass frets not all equally spaced. Pegbox with eight pegs for four double courses of wire, the first three steel, the fourth brass; the numbers of strings are inscribed inside the pegbox, which ends in a lobed, shield-shaped finial.' - Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments.(London, 1998), p. 47.
Dimensions
  • Length total length: 66cm
  • Length of belly length: 29.5cm
  • Width: 21.5cm
  • Depth: 4cm
  • String length length: 35.8cm
Dimensions taken from Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 47.
Object history
This instrument was purchased by the Museum for £1 in 1882. It had been part of the collections of Carl Engel (1818-1882), an eminent musicologist from Hanover, who published the Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum in 1874. The South Kensington Museum has been known as the Victoria & Albert Museum since 1899.
Summary
The cittern is a wire-strung instrument, strummed or plucked with a plectrum or quill, like the one that was acquired at the same time as this instrument, which is a rare survival. This version of the cittern was used as a folk instrument in Germany, especially Thuringia and the Hartz mountains, where it was known as a Waldzither.
Bibliographic reference
Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 47.
Collection
Accession number
217-1882

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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