German theorbo, made by Jacob Heinrich Goldt, Hamburg, 1734

'Engraved on the back of the neck: Jacobus Henricus Goldt fecit Hamb.. On the fingerboard is inlaid an oval mother-of-pearl medallion engraved with a sun above two shields, one showing a whale blowing, the other containing the initials of the maker, all surrounded by the words Sconne und Shild. Gott der Heer ist .... Body of eleven rosewood ribs with ivory stringing between. Belly of pine carved with a rose. Fingerboard and back of neck have fine tortoisehell and ivory marquetry patterns of grotesques amid strapwork (Laub und Bandelwerk) and a small medallion of mother-of-pearl. The pegboxes are painted red inside, otherwise black. The main one has fourteen pegs, for two single courses, six double. The upper pegbox is or five double courses and has a semitone device, added later and now broken, with three ivory nuts which can be raised in slots against iron springs, for the first, third and fourth courses.' (Baines, Anthony. Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoira and Albert Museum - Part II. Non-keyboard instruments . London: V&A Publications, 1998, pp. 32-33.)

This instrument was bought by the South Kensington Museum in 1856 for £8. The provenance is unknown.

By about 1700, the theorbo-lute or German Baroque lute had as many as thirteen courses (single strings or pairs producing either the same note or one an octave lower than the other). Its French counterpart usually had only eleven. Both were tuned in the key of D minor, but the German version had loud ringing bass notes, required for the new extrovert 'galant' style of music, fashionable both in solo and chamber music in about 1734, when this instrument was made. At that time, the leading composers for this instrument were Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750) and his contemporary Silvius Leopold Weiss (1686 - 1750).

4274-1856