Books › The Belle Skinner collection of old musical instruments, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1933 › scan 148
Scan 148
The Belle Skinner collection of old musical instruments, Holyoke, Massachusetts, 1933
15 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. Printed page 130. See the scan on archive.org.
1No. 56
2VIOLA D’AMORE
4ANDREAS KEMBTER
6The body of this viola is of curly maple with tail-piece and finger-board of rosewood, inlaid with lines of holly in geometrical patterns. The belly is edged with a strip of ebony inside of which is a black ink line. The sound-holes are fine examples of the “flaming-sword” pattern. The peg-box is fitted with fourteen tuning pegs, studded with ivory, accommodating seven strings above and seven sympathetic or vibrating strings below the finger-board. The scroll, crested by a carved head of a woman, blindfolded, terminates in acanthus volutes. The varnish of this instrument is golden brown. Inside the body is the maker’s printed label, the last figure of the date being illegible:
8Andreas Kembter, Lauten und Geigenmache[r] in Dillingen 177-
10This viola is in perfect condition. It was formerly in the collection of Morris Steinert, New Haven.
12Andreas Kembter (1700-1786) of Dillingen was for fifty years a maker of lutes, violas, and violins. He made violins from the Stainer model, but preserved his own individuality. His tone was big and beautiful and his varnish considered excellent. There is a viola d’amore with lion’s head, made by Kembter, in the Heyer Collection, dated 1746. (See Lütgendorff II, p. 249).
14Length, 2 ft. 6 1/4 in.; length of body, 1 ft. 3 in.; width, 9 3/16 in.; depth, 3 3/16 in.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.