Henry Jay Kit
date: label: Date made
content: ca 1750
name: label: maker
content: Jay, Henry
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: <p>This kit was made by Henry Jay in London, England, about 1750. It is made of a one-piece table of spruce, body carved from one piece of maple cut on 45o slab, painted ink representation of purfling on table and back, neck “V” grafted to an 18th-century English neck, pegbox and closed scroll with one volute; two bone pegs for the “e” and “a” strings are probably original, and orange-brown varnish. This instrument has a handwritten label fragment:</p>
label: Description (Brief)
content: <p>Hen J<br>Lon[i]n 52[ ]</p>
label: Description (Brief)
content: <p>In 18th-century England, “kit” was used to describe an instrument with a small violin body and a long neck, used in the same manner as a pochette, or dancemaster’s fiddle. This instrument was probably made by Henry Jay who worked in London, from 1740 to 1776, and specialized in the kit. This maker is not to be confused with Henry Jay of Southwarke (1615-1667), the famous English viol maker.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Densmore, Frances. Handbook of the Collection of Musical Instruments in the United States National Museum.
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MI.094867
label: accession number
content: 23899
label: catalog number
content: 094867
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pochette
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: spruce (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: maple (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: gut (strings material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 1/2 in x 4 1/4 in x 2 1/2 in; 41.91 cm x 10.795 cm x 6.35 cm