Composite Violin
date: label: Date made
content: 1700-1799
label: date made
content: ca 1680
notes: label: Description
content: This violin was made in England by an unknown maker in the late 18th century. It was converted from an English violoncello from around 1680. The violin table is from the upper breast of a cello top, inverting the ornament beneath the fingerboard. A violin outline was cut from the cello top and new edge material was imposed and hidden by traditional purfling. New f-holes and a violin bass bar completed the violin table construction. For the back, the lower center bout from the cello was cut to form a violin outline, and reshaped to approximate the violin arching. New edge overlay and a new button were added, and the back was purfled to match the table.
label: Description
content: In its new violin form, the style of this instrument remains strongly English in character, including the late 18th century pegbox and scroll – the single major foreign addition to the violoncello materials. Finally, while there is significant varnishing and retouching to the body edges, much original varnish from the cello remains untouched, of rich semi-transparent reddish orange-brown color.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
label: See more items in
content: Violins
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Joya B. Cox
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.1022.01
label: catalog number
content: 1986.1022.01
label: accession number
content: 1986.1022
objectType: label: Object Name
content: violin
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 23 3/4 in x 8 in x 3 1/4 in; 60.325 cm x 20.32 cm x 8.255 cm