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Nine-string guitar
René-François Lacôte (French, 1785–1855)
1827
Object Place: Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Mahogany, maple, spruce, ebony, whale bone, silver, nickel silver, sheep gut
Dimensions
Length 92 cm, width 30 cm (Length 36 1/4 in., width 11 13/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated anonymously through the Joseph Bishop Van Sciver Fund (1861-1943) of The Boston Foundation and an anonymous donor
Accession Number2000.629
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionOne-piece back of mahogany over substrate of spruce. Ribs of solid mahogany. Two-piece belly of fine-grain spruce. Multi-line binding of ebony and whalebone around edges of belly and soundhole. Neck of mahogany. Headstock of maple sandwiched by mahogany; face ebonized. Tuning pegs of rosewood. Nut and fingerboard of ebony with seventeen frets of nickel silver. Bridge, finger rest, and string holder of maple. Six main strings and three diapason strings. Internal construction: Four lateral braces on back and five on belly (two above soundhole). Original case of wood lined with green wool.
InscriptionsStamped on headstock: Lacote, / a Paris / PAR BREVETE, / D'INVENTION; printed label: Place des Victoirea, / No. 5 / LACOTE, / Luthier / a Paris / Annee 182 [handwritten: 7]; Printed labels on case: Eugène Petetin / ANCIEN OFFICiER DE MARINE / [handwritten: 32, no. du Luxembourg / Paris / 9 Cordes …]
ProvenanceBefore 1858, Eugène Peletin, Paris, France, a student of the French guitar virtuoso Napoleon Coste (1805-1883). Before 2000, sold by source unidentified, the Hotel Drouot, to a dealer, Paris; by 2000, sold by same dealer to Tony Bingham, London, England; 2000, sold by Bingham to the MFA. (Accession Date: April 26, 2000)
Reverie Nocturne, about 1850
Composed by Napoleon Coste
Performed by Olav Chris Henriksen