Dulcimer

Dulcimer, box zither. The instrument consists of a trapezoid box. The outside walls are painted turquoise-blue with gilt chinoiseries. In the pine soundboard there are two deeply recessed and intricately fashioned gilt roses surrounded by garlands of painted flowers. The soundboard is edged with gilt mouldings. Twenty-four triple courses of wire strings are stretched laterally across the soundboard. The wrest pins are on the right and are set into a sloping wrest-plank. There are two pireced gilt-wood bridges which alternate 'T'-shaped sections and arches. The strings pass over one bridge and through the other, alternate courses pass over the left (treble) and right (bass) bridges. Across the top of the bridges passes a metal rod. The outer case is of oak, the inside is painted blue and decorated with cut-out prints, coloured and stuck to the wood. The illustrations are reminiscent of the 'Ladies' Amusement' published by Robert Sawyer around 1760.