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Arch-cittern

"On the gilt scroll painted round the soundhole, the words: Harley. London . Back and sides of sycamore. The belly is bordered by a Greek fret band in gold. The soundhole is open, and appears to have been enlarged , since the surrounding gilt scroll has been cut into. The neck and pegboxes are painted black. The ebony fingerboard (length 25 cm) has twelve ivory frets, and the nuts are of ivory, the upper nut being slanted. The main pegbox carries six overspun metal strings on single courses, and the upper carries four. The strings are attached to a crude massive bridge pierced with ten equidistant holes." - Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments (London, 1998), p. 54.

  • Culture:
  • Period:
  • Materials:planed and joined sycamore back and sides, planed, partly gilt pine soundboard, planed ebony fingerboard with ivory frets and nuts.
  • Specific materials/techniques:
  • Decorative elements:
  • Inscriptions:Harley. London
  • Hornbostel-Sachs category:
  • Repository:Victoria and Albert Museum
  • Measurements:Length: 107 cm length total, Length: 44 cm length of body, Length: 48 cm minimum string slength, Length: 66.5 cm maximum string length, Width: 35 cm, Depth: 9 cm