Guitar

Soriot

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Instrument

Guitar

Instrument Family

Strings

Maker

Soriot

Place Made

Western Europe ; France ; Europe

Date Made

Circa 1830

Description

Technical description: Bookmatched soundboard of spruce with growth rings generally close over all of the soundboard except the outer inch or so. Bridge of ebony with a metal saddle. The main part of the bridge is 86mm long and 28mm wide. The bridge extends further with curved ends which terminate with ebony dots with mother-of-pearl centres. Six bridge pins of ebony with various designs of centres, both ivory or mother-of-pearl. The soundhole is 74mm diameter. The purfling around the soundhole consists of a strip of ebony which edges the soundhole, then alternate strips of ivory and ebony (three of each), then a wide band of mother-of-pearl which has been engraved with flowers and leaves in brown, and then alternate thin strips of ebony and ivory (three of each) surrounded by a wider strip of ebony. The soundboard is edged with a strip of ivory, and then alternate thin strips of ebony and ivory (five ivory and six ebony strips). The back and sides are of birdseye maple. The sides are not bookmatched. They join at the bottom with a thin ebony strip separating them, and there is an ebony endpin. The back is of one piece, veneered onto a thicker spruce piece. There is an ivory edging between the back and sides, and thin back strips on the sides next to the top and bottom edgings, and on the back next to the edging. The heel and neck are veneered in birdseye maple. The heel and neck join at a sharp angle, and there is a thin ebony strip between the two pieces. The heel capping piece is ebony. The neck joins the head with a V joint, again with an ebony strip at the edges. The head is of beech, and its top surface is veneered in ebony. There are brass machine heads with ivory rollers and buttons. The nut is ebony. The fingerboard is ebony, glued to the top surface of the soundboard. The neck is 314mm long, 45.5mm wide at the nut and 58.5mm wide at the body join. The total fingerboard length is 397 in the centre. There are 17 metal frets. Printed elliptical label reads "SORIOT, / Fabricant d'instrumens eu sous / genues(?) / MIRECOURT (Vosges)" with further writing below in an extremely small script, possibly reading "Lun Bueget Epinal". Repair History: There is a filled crack in the back which extends from the upper bouts to the bottom. Overall size: 933 Body length: 444 Body width, upper bouts: 229 Body width, waist: 159 Body width, lower bouts: 295 Body depth: 84 (bottom) - 75 (neck join) String length: 630

Notes

A.Macaulay, April 1991; D.P. Martin, 2003.

Measurements

933.

Collection

Macaulay Collection ; MIMEd

Accession Number

0296

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