Arch cittern

"Flat back of a single piece of sycamore, and sides, narrowing towards the base, of the same. Belly of two pieces of pine, with intricate sunk rose of carved wood and parchment. The thick neck is of full width and carries a scalloped fingerboard with eighteen brass frets. The theorbo-like upper pegbox is surmounted with a carved lion's head with red-painted tongue, probably taken from another instrument. The main pegbox is for four double courses of wire, and the upper for nine single basses, these last running down to long brass hooks attached to the base of the body.' - Anthony Baines:Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), pp. 46-47.