Books › The Belle Skinner collection of old musical instruments, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1933 › scan 105
Scan 105
The Belle Skinner collection of old musical instruments, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1933
16 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. Printed page 87. See the scan on archive.org.
1No. 31
3THEORBO-LUTE
5SEBASTIAN SCHELLE
6OF NÜRNBERG
8GERMAN
91726
11This lute was made by Sebastian Schelle of Nürnberg. Schelle (fl. 1700-1745) was considered one of the most renowned lute and violin makers of his time. His instruments were finely and accurately proportioned, made from all kinds of rare and fine wood of which he had a goodly store. The tone of his instruments was clear and penetrating. (Lütgendorff, II, pp. 442-443). The body of this theorbo-lute, which is covered with a golden brown varnish, is made of strips of rosewood and curly maple, separated by narrow ebony and holly lines, and the ebony neck is edged with ivory. There are twenty-four pegs fitted into three peg-boxes. The larger peg-box, supporting the other two, has a fretted back and is fitted with nineteen pegs; above this peg-box and attached to it is a dolphin's head holding one peg for the highest string, the chanterelle. The third peg-box, holding the four bass strings, is placed at the left. The sound-board of a very fine spruce has, inserted into the sound-hole, an elaborately carved rose of a darker wood. Inside the instrument is a printed label, with the last two figures of the date in writing, bearing the inscription:
13Sebastian Schelle, Lauten and Geigenmacher in Nürnberg, A. 1726.
15An early mention of the lute is found in the list of instruments belonging to the Earl of Northumberland in 1512, and Henry VIII's state band in 1526 included three lutes and two viols. (Hart, 90). The lute was made in different sizes and with varied construction. The small lute appears to have been used more for instrumental music and the larger lutes for accompanying the voice. Hart further states (p. 94) quoting from Macaulay: "It has been said keeping a Lute must have been on a par with keeping a horse." The demand for lute strings was so great that in 1686 the public was invited to take shares in a company for the supply of the article and the projectors held out to the subscribers the hope of immense gains. There are many
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