Guitar
- Place of origin:
Barcelona (city), Spain (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
- Materials and Techniques:
Pine back and sides, veneered with amboyna; engraved and painted ivory plaque on the back; pine soundboard, with mother-of-pearl openwork; painted mother-of-pearl purfling (bordering); ebony-veneered neck
- Credit Line:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
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This guitar is perhaps the most lavishly decorated instrument of its kind, and it belonged to Doña Manuela de Rosas, daughter of Don Juan Manuel de Rosas (1797-1877), dictator of Argentina, who fled into permanent exile in England in 1852.
The back and sides of this guitar are made of pine veneered with amboyna, a tropical wood more prized for its appearance than its resonance. The instrument was made by Agustín Altimira (1805-1884) of Barcelona, who won a silver medal for one of his guitars at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1878. It is a fairly late example of the smaller-bodied and lighter-toned guitar widely used in Spain until the 1870s, after which it was gradually replaced by the modern classical guitar, the invention of Antonio Torres (1817-1891) of Cadiz.
Place of Origin
Barcelona (city), Spain (made)
Date
1840-1849 (made)
Artist/maker
Altimira (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Pine back and sides, veneered with amboyna; engraved and painted ivory plaque on the back; pine soundboard, with mother-of-pearl openwork; painted mother-of-pearl purfling (bordering); ebony-veneered neck
Marks and inscriptions
No. 385 Fab'ca de Altimira. Calle Escudellers No. 61. Barcelona. año 184. No. 385 Made by Altimira.Calle Escudellers No 61. Barcelona. in the year 184[?]
Dimensions
Length: 95 cm total, Length: 45 cm belly, Width: 30.5 cm maximum, Depth: 9.5 cm
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
London, Victoria & Albert Museum: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Part II, Anthony Baines: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 60
Labels and date
GUITAR
Altimira (Spanish, active c.1840-1880); Barcelona, about 1845
The printed label reads
No. 385 Fab'ca de Altimira. Calle Escudellers No 61. Ano 184.
Amboyna veneered back, on pine, amboyna sides, top of pine
with mother of pearl purfling, painted mother of pearl soundhole
and finger board.
Non-Keyboard Catalogue No.: 12/9
Altimira was active between about 1840 until 1880, and he won
a silver medal for his guitars at the Paris Exhibition of 1878.
This instrument belonged to the daughter of Don Juan Manuel de
Rosas, Dictator of Argentina, who fled to England in 1852, and
was presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum by his grandson in 1915.
Given to this Museum by Manuel Terrero.
W.15-1915 [pre September 2000]
Materials
Ivory; Mother-of-pearl; Pine; Ebony; Amboyna
Techniques
Engraving; Painting; Veneering; Planing
Subjects depicted
Hunting scene; Lovers' scene
Categories
Musical instruments
Production Type
Unique
Collection code
FWK
