Bass Viol
about 1750 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This unusual bass viol has a body and soundboard of mahogany, a wood less resonant than pine, maple or sycamore but widely used for making furniture in England by the 1720s. Its scrolled head and the pointed bouts of its body make it look like a 'cello, but it is fitted with six strings, like a viol. An amateur probably made this instrument, and a member of a church band may well have played it. Church bands consisted of amateur musicians who used what instruments were available. They were the main source of music in country churches until about 1850, when they were increasingly replaced by organs.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Planed and joined mahogany back, sides and belly; planed and carved mahogany neck; planed ebony fingerboard. |
| Brief description | Bass Viol, mahogany body and belly, English, about 1750. |
| Physical description | "Of approximately violin shape. with belly, back and sides of mahogany. The belly, of a single piece, has un-nicked f-holes of crude form. The back, also of a single piece, is arched. Thick neck with short (40 cm) fingerboard and very crude scroll. The tailpiece is attached to a brass pin. Six pegs. ... This crude instrument is presumably amateur work, possibly made for a church band. The unusual mahogany body is not very resonant." Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 8. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | This instrument was part of the collections of Carl Engel, and was bought by the Museum for £6 in 1882. |
| Production | Anthony Baines describes this instrument as 'Probably English; eighteenth century'. This instrument is unusual in that it is made with mahogany, a timber more easily avaiable in England than anywhere else in Europe after about 1720. The peg-box of this example terminates with a scroll rather than a carved head, a practice that was dying out by the 1750s. |
| Summary | This unusual bass viol has a body and soundboard of mahogany, a wood less resonant than pine, maple or sycamore but widely used for making furniture in England by the 1720s. Its scrolled head and the pointed bouts of its body make it look like a 'cello, but it is fitted with six strings, like a viol. An amateur probably made this instrument, and a member of a church band may well have played it. Church bands consisted of amateur musicians who used what instruments were available. They were the main source of music in country churches until about 1850, when they were increasingly replaced by organs. |
| Bibliographic reference | Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), p. 8. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 172-1882 |
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| Record created | May 8, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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