This instrument is thought to have originally been a lute, subsequently altered to resemble a chitarrone, an instrument with an impressively long and decorative neck. It was probably never played with its current neck but used to hang on a wall or serve as an artist's prop. This chitarrone is the only known signed and dated instrument (1621) of Andrea Taus, an otherwise unknown maker most likely from Germany, the country from where most luthiers working in Italy at this time originated.
Physical description
"Body of thirty-nine ribs of yew with a lighter wood stringing between. It is strengthened inside with strips of paper bearing manuscript inscriptions in Italiam apparently in an eighteenth or noneteenth century hand. Pine belly, caved with a rose. The neck has a rosewood fingerboard, but the instrument has never been played with this. A remaining ebony 'beard' shows that the orignal fingerboard was of ebony. The back of the neck has a lower section, probably original, with a kidney pattern inlaid in dark wood. The back of the long head has a crude imitation of this pattern, which also occurs on the front. This long head, which ocntains both pegboxes is not original. The pegs are moden, the main pegbox being for six double courses and the upper for six single strings. ... According to Engel, the instrument was orginally a lute, and the present fingerboard is pobably a fake. " (Baines, Anthony. Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-Keyboard instruments. London, 1998, p. 35.)
Place of Origin
Siena, Italy (made)
Date
1621 (made)
Artist/maker
Taus, Andrea (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Planed and joined yew and pine; inlaid rosewood
Marks and inscriptions
'Andrea Taus in Siena 1621'
Dimensions
Length: 161 cm total, Length: 55 cm soundboard, Width: 34 cm
Object history note
This instrument was bought by the South Kensington Musem in 1859 for £2. Its neck was probably replaced not long before the museum purchased it, and the paper with 18th and 19th century handwriting glued to strengthen the ribs at about that time. Its earlier provenances remain unknown.
Descriptive line
Chitarrone, made by Andrea Taus, Siena, 1621
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Baines, Anthony. Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-Keyboard instruments. London, 1998, p. 35.
Carl Engel: Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum , (London, 1874), p. 244.
Labels and date
CHITARRONE
Italian; 1621
Inscribed Andrea Taus in Siena 1621
Neck of rosewood, though originally ebony, and ribs of yew
Non-Keyboard Catalogue No.: 7/13
Andrea Taus, presumably of German origins, is otherwise unrecorded. The neck was altered at a later date, and it is thought that the instrument was originally a lute.
5989-1859 [pre September 2000]
Materials
Pine; Rosewood; Yew
Techniques
Joining; Planing; Sawing
Categories
Musical instruments
Collection code
FWK
