English Guitar
ca. 1780 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The English guitar was a fashionable instrument from about 1750, considered easy to play and tuned in C major, although the player would use a capo, much like a modern folk-guitarist, in order to change the key. The tuning pegs were often small metallic pins that could be turned with a watch-key, to keep the strings in tune longer. This instrument was made in Portugal, a country with strong trading links with England, and its peg box is decorated with a paper 'cameo' in imitation of a jasper ware medallion, a motif made popular by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) from about 1770.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Pine back, sides and soundboards, with pine and wood purfling (bordering); brass openwork rose, framed with mother-of-pearl |
| Brief description | Portuguese, Joao Vieira da Silva, 1780-85 |
| Physical description | (Cithera) inlaid with turtleshell and mother of pearl. Sounding hole of brass openwork, a miniature ivory head at the top. It has six pairs of srings and an ivory capo-taste by which the pitch could be instantly raised. Labelled inside as made by Jaco Viera da Silva of Lisbon, about 1700 |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Limited edition |
| Marks and inscriptions | Jaco Vieira da Silva a fez em Lisboa no Prata da Alegria anno de 17 [no manuscript figures inserted] (1) Makers's mark 2) Signature; Portuguese; printed; printed)
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| Object history | This formed part of the collection of Carl Engel (1919 - 1882), a leading musicologist who published the Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum (London, 1874). Engel's collection was bought by the museum in 1882, nos. 150 to 350, for £555. 6s. 0d. RP 2315/1882 Bought for £3. 10s. 0d. |
| Summary | The English guitar was a fashionable instrument from about 1750, considered easy to play and tuned in C major, although the player would use a capo, much like a modern folk-guitarist, in order to change the key. The tuning pegs were often small metallic pins that could be turned with a watch-key, to keep the strings in tune longer. This instrument was made in Portugal, a country with strong trading links with England, and its peg box is decorated with a paper 'cameo' in imitation of a jasper ware medallion, a motif made popular by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) from about 1770. |
| Bibliographic reference | London, Victoria & Albert Museum: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Part II, Anthony Baines: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), pp. 52 - 53. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 208-1882 |
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| Record created | February 11, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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