Maker Name

F Hintz

Maker Biography

Frederick Hintz was a Germany cabinet maker who came to specialise in musical instruments. He was born in 1711 in Greifenhagen (now part of Poland) and was raised as a Lutheran. Little is known of his early years but he probably moved to London in the 1730’s as a journeyman. He became a member of the Moravian community in London around 1737 and sold all his stock and equipment and returned to a Moravian community in Germany in 1738. He remained in Germany until 1749 when he returned to London with his wife. It is believed he learned to make instruments during these years back in Germany. Frederick and his wife were appointed acolyte, lay-preachers, in 1747. In London Frederick was successful as a musical instrument maker, especially of the English Guittar.

Technical Description

Description: Bookmatched brown-stained soundboard of spruce. Modern beech bridge. Rosehole 81.5mm diameter, rose of brass. Purfling of ink consisting of three lines - two close together and one a little further away. Purfling around the edge of the instrument of two inked lines. Back and sides of figured maple, the figure on the bass side being more spectacular than that on the treble. The two pieces are joined at the bottom. There is an ivory endpin at the bottom, set towards the back of the instrument, and turned ivory buttons for holding the ends of the strings. There is an ivory soundboard protector at the bottom where the strings pass over. Bookmatched back of figured maple of very good quality. Two lines of inked purfling around the edge. the heel, neck and pegbox are of a single piece of lime (?), and flow smoothly into each other. Ten pegs of ebony with ivory buttons on the end. The pegbox has a curved end and a square terminal consisting of diagonal quarters of tortoiseshell and ivory. There is the remains of a green ribbon tied to the pegbox between the terminal and the pegs. The nut is of ivory. The neck is 190mm long, 47mm wide at the nut and 54mm wide at the body join. The fingerboard is ebony. It is radiused and has 15 full width frets plus two extra frets for the treble strings. The lowest five frets have holes for a capotasto to pass through. The capotasto is of ivory with leather against the strings. It has a screw and wingnut to tighten it against the strings. String setup: 5 courses: (5 x 2) strings, 10 strings in total. Overall size: 756mm Body length: 335mm Body width, upper points: 185mm Body width, maximum: 306mm Body depth: 84mm (bottom) - 62mm (neck joint) String length: 416mm Decoration: The brass rose features a central wreath section surrounded by a trophy of instruments. Inscription: There is no label, but there is a stamp "F. HINTZ" on the back by the heel. Repair History: The nut is a replacement.