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Hurdy-gurdy

Hurdy-gurdy in lute form (vielle en luth). Six strings. Front gently arched, mahogany, with a C-shaped soundhole each side at tail. Back of twelve ribs of alternate bird’s-eye maple and ?kingwood; no lines between ribs; maple top-block to which ribs are fixed with pairs of pegs. Trompette adjustment peg of ivory with ebony insert; inlaid striking-plate for trompette bridge. Keybox cover, wheel-cover and tailpiece decorated with marquetry in mother-of-pearl and ebony; thirteen naturals and ten accidentals; tangents of fruit-wood, sliders of ?ebony with ivory touch-plates on the accidentals. Keybox lid of ?cherry. All bridges and nuts (except later chanterelle nut) topped with ivory. String and peg for retaining wheel-cover.

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  • Inscriptions:Inside keybox lid: "VARQUAIN, ruë & carre-four de Bussi, F.S. Germain. à Paris. 1742."
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  • Repository:Royal College of Music Museum
  • Measurements:Length: 772mm. Width: 297.5mm. Depth: 223mm.