English guitar.

Preston

Instrument

English guitar

Instrument Family

Strings

Maker

Preston

Place Made

London; United Kingdom; England; Europe

Date Made

Circa 1760

Description

Technical description: Bookmatched soundboard of spruce. The grain is generally of medium width, getting wider towards the edges. Bridge of pine. Rosehole 78mm diameter, brass cupped rose featuring a flower inside a wreath. The rose is edged with a turned ivory ring. 4 lines of black inked purfling around the rosehole. Two lines of black inked purfling around the edge of the soundboard. Ivory soundboard protector at the bottom of the instrument. Back and sides of figured maple, the figure being close and deep. 10 ivory buttons to hold the strings at the bottom, and an ivory endpin, with traces of a modern strap cord tied around it. The sides join at the bottom, but do not appear to be bookmatched. The back is of two pieces, bookmatched in the centre. There are two lines of black inked purfling around the edges. The heel, neck and head are of maple with minimal figure. The heel flows smoothly into the neck. The head is sickle shaped, and ends with a square terminal with a floral design ornament in black sealing wax. Brass machine tuning mechanism with watchkey tuning device. The watchkey still survives with the instrument. The nut is of ivory. The fingerboard is veneered in tortoiseshell, with a mother-of-pearl ornament next to the nut. The neck is 182mm long, 46.5mm wide at the nut and 54mm wide at the body join. The fingerboard is arched over its width. There are 12 brass frets. There are ebony pieces at either side of the fingerboard. The piece on the bass side rises in height, and the fret gets higher on this side, increasing the distance between the top of the fret and the fingerboard. Total length of the fingerboard is 225 in the centre. The instrument has suffered woodworm damage, the holes have been filled with wax. String setup: 6 courses: (4 × 2) + (2 × 1) strings, 10 strings in total. Over size: 679mm Body length: 344mm Body width, widest point: 291mm Body depth: 75 (bottom) - 54mm (neck join) String length: 425mm Signature marks: Stamped on the back of the head is a "GR" monogram surmounted by a crown, with below it "PRESTON MAKER / LONDON". On the top surface of the head, above the nut is stamped "PRESTON". On the tuning mechanism is engraved the note names "C E G C E G", and below it "PRESTON INVENTOR". On one side of the watchkey are the words "RIV TD / PIPE", the "TD" being in superscript and underlined, and on the other side is "8". Repair History: The pine bridge is a replacement.

Notes

A. Macaulay, January 1992; D.P. Martin, 2003.

Measurements

679.

Provenance

Government allocation to the University, 1991.

Collection

C.H. Brackenbury Memorial Collection; MIMEd

Accession Number

1067