Lute.

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Instrument

Lute

Instrument Family

Strings

Date Made

19th century (?)

Description

Technical description: The soundboard is bookmatched spruce with close grain at the centre and fairly wide grain at the edges. The rose has been cut into the soundboard, and is 87.5mm diameter. The bridge is of fruitwood, topped with ebony. It is 139mm long and 21mm wide (maximum). At the top (where the strings pass through) it is 10mm wide. The strings pass through the bridge and are tied. There are 13 ribs of figured maple with thin ebony spacers in between each rib. The end clasp is figured maple, with decoratively cut ends. There is an endpin of ebony with a mother-of-pearl eye. The neck is veneered in ebony. The core material cannot be determined. The pegbox is of plain maple with an ebonised back cover. The pegbox is 71mm wide at the nut and 44mm wide at the top end. The pegs are ebony with ivory buttons on top. The nut is ivory. The neck is 275mm long, 70mm wide at the nut, and 78mm wide at the body join. The fingerboard is ebony 270mm long with extensions onto the soundboard at the sides. There are three ebony frets on the soundboard. Overall size: 956mm. Body length: 501mm. Body width, maximum: 331mm. Body depth: 197mm. String length: 637mm. Repair History: There are two semi-circular patches on the treble side towards the bottom of the instrument. Originally the soundboard extended further onto the neck, but it has been altered by the addition of an ebony piece (included in the above measurement). The fingerboard was originally only 239mm long, not including the extensions.

Notes

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

Measurements

956

Provenance

Lent by Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries '42-68f.

Collection

Glen Collection ; MIMEd

Accession Number

1721

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