Scan 347
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
6 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 271. See the scan on archive.org.
1Guitar of this maker, signed, and dated 1592, which is considered to be the most artistic and highly ornamented work known by Joachim Tielke. It is wonderfully preserved, and admirably shows the style and character of the art-work of the period. The following is a description of the instrument:—
3The body measures 21 inches, the neck and head 18 3/4 inches. The belly is of pine-wood. The rose, or circular sound-hole, is of a flexible substance, richly gilt, shaped in stars and circles, with perforated interlacings of minute formation. The outer circle of the rose is ornamented, on a tortoise-shell ground, with flowers, foliage, Lutes, Viols, and a Violin (the last-named representation is historically interesting, on account of the infancy of the leading instrument in 1592). The ornamentation is in silver and ivory, finely etched. The finger-board measures 11 3/4 inches, the inlaying of which is in tortoise-shell, silver, and ivory. There are five medallions, four of pearl, with Cupids engraved on each. The fifth medallion is in ivory, on which is an exquisite figure of Fortune, in tortoise-shell. The back is convex, in bands of alternate ivory and tortoise-shell, forming the ground, on which is executed in ivory, silver, and tortoise-shell, Cupids, deer, flowers and foliage, rich in life and motion. On the sides are centre-pieces of Apollo and Orpheus, and other figures, with Latin and German inscriptions. The back of the neck is inlaid with an etched figure of Cupid, with flowers and foliage in ivory, silver, and tortoise-shell. The head is richly ornamented, and pierced for ten pegs, which are in ivory, and in the shape of the fleur-de-lis. The emblems on the instrument evidently show that it was made for the purpose of presentation. It is said to have been made for Henry IV. of Navarre, who was a liberal patron of the arts, and lavish in his gifts.
5TIELKE, Joachim, Hamburg, about 1660—1686. Viol and Violin-maker. The dates met with on the
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