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Organ hurdy-gurdy

"The hurdy-gurdy has a large guitar-shaped body of sycamore. On the belly, the soundholes, and the barber's pole edging are similar to 6/2 and 6/3 [hurdy-gurdy by Varquain (577-1872) and hurdy-gurdy by P.Louvet (364-1864) respectively]. The tailpiece and keybox are of rosewood with mother-of-pearl stringing. The pegbox is crudely carved with a finial in the form of a woman's head and is stamped with stars. There are four pegs, and also, on the keyboard side of the pegbox, four wrest pins for drone strings. apparently added to the instrument at a later date. The mahogany box for the organ, on the top of which the hurdy-gurdy rests, contains twenty-eight wooden stopped pipes on the far side and thirty-four pipes placed horizontally beneath the box. There are two slider rods at the left-hand end of the box, for controlling these two registers of pipes. The stand is of pine painted to look like mahogany; it may be of later date than the rest." Anthony Baines, Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), pp. 26 - 27

  • Date:
    1650 - 1750 (Made)
  • Maker:
    Unknown
  • Collection:
    Victoria and Albert Museum
  • Inventory number:
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  • Place of production:
    London
  • Culture:
  • Period:
  • Materials:planed sycamore with ebony and mother-of-pearl edging; planed solid mahogany organ box; turned pine legs stained to resemble mahogany.
  • Specific materials/techniques:
  • Decorative elements:
  • Inscriptions:
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:
  • Repository:Victoria and Albert Museum
  • Measurements:Length: 75 cm total length of hurdy-gurdy, Length: 57 cm Length of hurdy-gurdy body, Width: 28 cm Width of hurdy-gurdy, Length: 71.5 cm Length of organ box, Width: 30 cm Width of organ box