Viola d'amore, Festooned model, bearing the coat of arms of Franz Anton Graf von Harrach, Prince Bishop of Salzburg between 1709 and 1727, made in Austria ca.1719

'Festooned model. Belly of two pieces of pine, with 'flame' soundholes and a small carved and gilt rose showing the arms of Franz Anton Graf von Harrach, Prince-Bishop of Salzburg from 1709 to 1727. Two-piece back with applied decoration. Pegbox with a winged cupid's head, gilt. The Ebony tailpiece is shaped obliquely and attached to an ivory hook-bar. Ebony fingerboard with shaped end. Seven stained pehs for the gut playing strings. The eight wire sympathetic strings are attached to hitch pins above the nut and are tuned by wrest pins in the bottom block of the body, accessible though sliding traps, one on each side of the hook-bar.' - Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 10.

This instrument was given to F.X.Lidel by the Prince Bishop of Salzburg, in 1776 and acquired by this museum for £10 - 10 - 0 from his descendent, Josef Lidel in 1878.It was exhibited at the Special Exhibition of Musical Instruments at the Southy Kensington Museum in June 1878.

According to Carl Englel (Carl Engel: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum, (London, 1874), p 360, this instrument was made in 1719. No inscription has been found to support this.

The viola d'amore was particularly popular throughout Italy and Central Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, and was noted for its sweet tone. Seven gut strings were played by the bow, while seven 'sympathetic' strings placed underneath the fingerboard responded to the resulting vibrations. This instrument bears the coat of arms of Franz Anton Graf von Harrach, Prince Bishop of Salzburg between 1709 and 1727. German and Austrian noblemen had their own private orchestras, and this instrument would probably have been used by one of his musicians.

722-1878