Bass Viol
ca. 1850 (assembled)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This bass viol is made up from pieces of different instruments. They include a finely carved old woman's head used as a finial, a fingerboard probably made originally for a bass viol by Joachim Tielke (1641–1719) of Hamburg, and a tailpiece possibly made up from an ivory tobacco rasp. It is uncertain whether, in its current form, this was used seriously as a playing instrument or was just treated as an ornament to hang on a wall.
Object details
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| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Carved ivory tailpiece; inlaid ivory and tortoiseshell neck; planed and purfled [bordered] pine soundboard; planed sycamore back and neck |
| Brief description | Bass viol assembled from disparate parts of other instruments, dating from about 1680, including an inlaid tortoiseshell and ivory fingerboard in the style of Joachim Tielke (1641 - 1719) of Hamburg. |
| Physical description | "Belly of two pieces of pine, single purfled [bordered] and with the soundholes placed rather high. Back of two pieces of sycamore. The body is simply lined with kerfing and with thin corner blocks. The neck, rounded at the root, has been lengthened by [a] packing piece. The pegbox is grafted to the neck and has a finely carved head of a grotesque old woman. Modern tailpiece with a carved ivory plaque (possibly part of a tobacco rasp) attached to an end pin. Fingerboard with tortoiseshell and ivory marquetry and floral scrolls of the Tielke type. Six pegs." - Anthony Baines:Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 7. |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Gallery label | BASS VIOL
English or French; about 1690
The label is printed, 'Gasparo da Salo in Brescia'.
Pine top, sycamore back and neck with tortoiseshell and ivory inlay.
Non-Keyboard Catalogue No.: 1/12
The label is almost certainly spurious, and the instrument made of parts of different dates. The decoration of the neck is characteristic of work by Joachim Tielke of Hamburg and the finial is thought to be nineteenth century. The body has been variously attributed to Richard Meares of London (about 1670) and Michel Colichon of Paris (about 1687).
167-1882(pre September 2000) |
| Object history | This instrument was part of the collections of Carl Engel, and was valued at £10 when acquired by the South Kensington Museum in 1882. |
| Production | This bass viol has been made up of a number of disparate parts, most likely English (according to Anthony Baines), but the fingerboard may originally have come from an instrument made by Joachim Tielke of Hamburg (1641–1719). It is not known when or where Carl Engel (1812–1882) acquired this instrument. |
| Summary | This bass viol is made up from pieces of different instruments. They include a finely carved old woman's head used as a finial, a fingerboard probably made originally for a bass viol by Joachim Tielke (1641–1719) of Hamburg, and a tailpiece possibly made up from an ivory tobacco rasp. It is uncertain whether, in its current form, this was used seriously as a playing instrument or was just treated as an ornament to hang on a wall. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 167&A-1882 |
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| Record created | May 16, 2001 |
| Record URL |
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