Bell cittern or Hamburg Cithrinchen, probably by Tielke, Hamburg, Germany, ca. 1700.

'A bell cittern or Hamburg Cithrinchen. Bell-shaped outline. Slightly arched back. This, like the sides, surrounds to the roses in the belly, and the pegbox is decorated with complex floral patterns and mythological figures, executed in marquetry of ivory and tortoiseshell, set in places with gems of coloured glass or paste. Belly of pearwood, with three sunk roses constructed with intricately cut vellum. The sides taper towards the base. The bridge is modern.

The offset neck is surmounted by a tortoiseshell and ivory marquetry fingerboard with silver frets. The pegbox has a wooden finial in the form of a woman's head studded with ivory to simulate strings of pearls. Five double courses, though of the original ten pegs only three remain, the rest being modern. The frets run up to no. 19, nos. 16 and 17 being fractional and 18 omitted. An inscription roughly scratched on the neck reads: C'Est trop tard.'

Adapted from Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part II: Non-Keyboard Instruments (London, 1978), pp. 45-6.

This object was bought from a M. Baur of Paris (presumably a dealer) for £30 - 0 - 0 in July 1869.
'Though of inferior quality to other Tielke bell citterns, with the shapes poorly drawn and the engraving wretched, the example is, in the opinion of Herr Hellwig, nevertheless by Joachim Tielke.'

Referred to in The South Kensington Museum's published list of acquisitions for the year 1869:
QUINTERNA, OR CHITTERNA. Ornamented with tortoise-shell, mythological figures in ivory, and precious stones. Ten strings of catgut, arranged in five pairs. On the side of the neck is the inscription - "<i>Joachim Tielke in Hamburg, 1539</i>." <i>German</i>. First half of 16th century.
L. 2 ft. 1 in., W. 9 1/ in. (Bought, 30<i>l</i>.) 1122-'69

Günther Hellwig dated the instrument to ca.1680; see Joachim Tielke. Ein Hamburger Lauten- und Violenmacher der Barockzeit (Frankfurt/Main, 1980), p.156.

Conserved (V&A) in 1963, and restrung (1964) in nylon by W.E. Hill & Co. who also made and fitted seven new pegs.

A discussion of Tielke's marquetry can be found in Friedemann Hellwig, 'Die Marketerien auf den Instrumenten Joachim Tielke', Die Kunst der Ebenisten: Quellenstudien, technologische Untersuchengen und innovative Verfahren in der Holzresaurierung, ed. Jorg Weber (Potsdam: Verlag der Fachhochschule, 2017, pp. 34-41. Copy in departmental file for this object.

The bell cittern or cithrinchen, as it is known in Germany, was a smaller version of the cittern, a popular instrument associated with taverns and barbers' shops, and it enjoyed a vogue from about 1650 until 1720. It was either strummed with a plectrum or played with fingers like a baroque guitar, the latter practice being widespread in Holland. This instrument bears the signature of Joachim Thielke of Hamburg (1641-1719), perhaps the greatest luthier from Germany of his day, and was probably made in about 1700 (the date "1539" was added by a different person and probably at a later date). It is lavishly inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory Laub und Bandelwerk (leaf and band-work), a form of decoration very much associated with Thielke.

1122-1869