Scan 6
Musical instruments in the South Kensington Museum, 1869
37 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1List of Photographs.
3(b). VIELLE. France (English, hurdy-gurdy; German, leyer). Wood, lacquered, and decorated in black outlines, and occasional colour with hunting-scenes and arabesques; also with the arms of France, and crowned monogram of Henry II. on back and front. Ten keys and six tuning-pegS. The keyboard and keys are of ebony and ivory. Near the handle are monograms of Catharine de Medicis. Date, about 1550. Length, including handle, 22 1/2 in.; width, 8 1/4 in.
4Bought at the Lecarpentier sale. Price, £127.
6VI.
7DULCIMER. The frame of wood, carved, gilt, and painted with an armorial shield in front. Italian, sixteenth century. Width of front, 2 ft. 8 1/2 in.; depth of side, 1 ft. 3 3/4 in. With twenty-six sets of metal strings. Most of the sets contain five strings tuned in unison; those which are the longest, contain four strings. Most of the strings run over two bridges; the four shortest have only one bridge, which is placed in the middle.
9VII.
10HARP. Wood, carved and gilt, the pillar decorated with wreaths of flowers and trophies of musical instruments, at the foot two cocks, at the top a mask surmounted by a terminal figure of a cupid. The sounding board painted with male and female figures resting on clouds and playing on various musical instruments. French. About 1780, said to have belonged to Queen Marie Antoinette. Height, 5 ft. 5 in.; width, 2 ft. 8 in.
11Given by Professor Wheatstone.
13VIII.
14(a). CHITARRONE. A Theorbo. Of wood inlaid with strips of ivory and plaques of mother-of-pearl. With two sets of tuning-pegS; the lower set containing twelve pegs, and the higher set, which is about two feet distant from the lower, containing eight pegs. Italian, sixteenth century. Length 5 ft. 7 in.
15Bought. Price, £12.
17(b). THEORBO. A kind of lute. Italian, sixteenth century. Made in Venice. Marquetry of wood and ivory. With two sets of tuning-pegS; the lower set containing twelve pegs; and the higher, eight. The pegs are of ivory. Length, 3 ft. 6 in.
18Bought. Price, £10.
19The name of this instrument, (Italian, tiorba; French, théorbe; English, theorbo, and thiorba) is, according to some accounts, derived from the name of its inventor, a Signor Tiorba. According to others, it was invented by Bardella, an Italian, about the year 1600; others again attribute its invention to Hottemann, a German, who excelled as a performer on this instrument in France, about 1650. Probably all these persons merely introduced some improvements in this species of lute, which is of older date than has generally been supposed. Mace, in his "Musick's Monument," London, 1676, says: "The Theorboe is no other than that which we call'd the Old English Lute." The Germans called it Basslaut, on account of its deep tones.
21IX.
22(a). GUITAR. (Spanish guitarra; Italian, chitarra; French, guitarre.) Inlaid with marquetry of ivory, ebony, and mother-of-pearl. Italian, circa 1550. Length, 2 ft. 11 in. Width, 10 1/2 in. There are indications of its having been mounted with five sets of strings; four sets contained three strings each, and one set contained four strings, which were tuned in unison. With metal frets.
23The guitar is evidently an importation from the East; but it has undergone various modifications since its adoption by European nations. It was a fashionable instrument in England, played by ladies, in the time of Charles II.
25(b). ARCHLUTE. (Italian, arciliuto; French, archiluth; German, erzlaute.) Inlaid with ivory and tortoise-shell; richly engraved. German work; made by Jacobus Heinrich Goldt in Hamburg; circa 1700. With two sets of tuning-pegS; the lower set containing fourteen pegs; and the higher, ten. On the middle of the neck is an oval plate of mother-of-pearl, bearing the German inscription, Gott der Herr ist Sonne und Schield. ("God the Lord is sun and shield.") Length, 4 ft. 6 in.
27X.
28(a). MANDOLINE. With seven tuning-pegS. A fine specimen; but without strings and frets. The frets were probably of catgut, as was often the case with instruments of the lute kind. Length, 20 in.
29Bought at the Marquis D'Azeglio's sale.
31(b). MANDOLINE. Of beechwood, carved with strap and foliage work; having in the centre a group of Juno, Diana, and Venus. On the back of the neck is a Medusa's head in relief. Seven tuning-pegS. French; date about 1570. Length, 16 1/2 in. Width, 4 1/2 in.
32Bought at the Lecarpentier sale. Price, £139 10s.
34XI.
35(a). ZITHER, or Schlag-Zither. Germany. In a case. The instrument is of rosewood, inlaid with brass, mother-of-pearl, and ivory. The case contains three brass boxes for strings, a brush, two pairs of nippers, a key, a tuning-tube, a cleaner. Length of the instrument, 20 in.; width, 13 in.; height, 2 in.
36Bought. From the Bavarian Department of the Paris Exhibition of 1867. Price, 160 f.
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