Bass viol

'Belly of four pieces of pine, double purfled [bordered]. A formal floral device is inlaid and engraved in the centre. The back is a later replacement, made of two pieces of sycamore decorated with double lines of purfling with a fancy knot-pattern in the centre. The sides appear to be contemporary with the back. Thin wooden sidelining to the back, none to the belly. Neck with a spliced repair. Pegbox with a carved woman's head with her hear tied back with a bow, and with scrollwork carved in relief on the back. Tailpiece, attached to the hook-bar, and fingerboard are of ebony with ivory stringing. Six boxwood pegs. The neck is still partly fretted with gut.' Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum - Part II: Non-keyboard instruments. (London, 1998), pp. 3 - 4.