Viola, converted from viol.

Technical description: Soundboard of spruce; back, sides, head, neck of sycamore; fingerboard, tailpiece, and end plug of ebony; pegs of rosewood; rose of sycamore(?). The instrument started as a viol and was later converted into a small viola.There is an oval shaped rose let into the soundboard, 43.8 long, 36.6 wide, the top being 83mm from the top of the body. Flame type sound-holes, purfling in soundboard of ebony/sycamore(?)/ebony. Arch over soundboard 21mm. The back and sides are of fine quality figured wood, the figure on the back going towards the top in the centre and down at the edges, the figure on the sides going towards the top at the back and down at the soundboard. The upper and lower bouts overlap the waist, rather than meeting in mitres at the corners. There is a line of purfling down the centre of the back. In the conversion to a viola the original head was preserved, filling the six holes and redrilling for viola pegs and a new neck grafted on. The original tailpiece arm was removed and replaced by an endpin. The instrument is covered in a reddish varnish. There are bars on the back interior at the lower bout, the upper bout, and at the fold, there is also a linen strip down the centre joint at the back. The soundpost is loose inside the instrument, and there are marks on the lower bout bar showing positions of the post. There is a wood strip lining between the back and sides. The neck length is 149.5; fingerboard length 300, the width at the nut 25.1 and the bottom 47.5. Repair History: There are a number of repaired cracks in both the soundboard and back. The fold on the back has been cracked along the entire length and has been crudely repaired. There are a series of close cracks along the length of the purfling at the back.