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English guitar

This English guittar’s soundbox is pear-shaped with indented sides. The back has two finely matched pieces separated by a strip of inlay. There are similar strips of inlay along the edges of the sides and head. The front and back are edged with ivory. The rose is formed from a twelve-pointed star, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and brown wood, set within two outer rings of tortoiseshell. Two further rings have been added in pen and ink. The finger board is veneered with tortoiseshell, inlaid with engraved plaques of mother-of-pearl. It has six double courses, regulated by twelve metal ring-headed keys inserted laterally that turn frontal spindels by means of a ratchet mechanism. The strings are fixed at the lower end to ivory pins above an ivory button, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The neck has a capotasto with holes for four positions and twelve metal frets.

  • Date:
    1770
  • Maker:
    Rauche, Michael [Person]
  • Collection:
    Ashmolean Museum
  • Inventory number:
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  • Place of production:
    London (Timezone: Europe/London)
  • Culture:
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  • Materials:
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  • Decorative elements:
  • Inscriptions:inscription/mark: Rauche / London:1770. (painted on button)
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:
  • Repository:Ashmolean Museum
  • Measurements:784 mm length; 369 mm body length; 301 mm body max. (back) width; 76 mm body (neck) depth; 79.5 mm body (tail) depth; 482 mm string length