Vihuela

Vihuela de mano. The instrument is of a guitar-like form, with 11 strings arranged into five double courses and one single course. The two-piece back is of maple, of medium curl ascending from the joint. The ribs are also of maple, of a much fainter, broader curl. The pine belly is pierced by a circular soundhole into which is inserted a rose of wood and pasteboard. The back of the ebony neck is overlaid with multiple boxwood stringing, and the head takes the form of a lobed pyramid with reverse pegs. The varnish is a gold-brown colour. Maker's label: Arnold Dolmetsch/Haslemere/September 1937 No. 3.