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Double bass
about 1870
Object Place: Probably France
Medium/Technique
Maple, spruce, walnut
Dimensions
Length 180.5 cm, width 65.4 cm (Length 71 1/16 in., width 25 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1732a
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionThree strings. Outline of viol type. Back of two pieces of maple, flat in lower and middle bouts, then gradually tapering toward the neck bracket. Belly of two pieces of large grained pine, arched, two f-holes, purfling. Both back and belly with overhanging edges. Finger-board of walnut, stained black. Ebony tail-piece. Normal type bridge. Neck and head of one piece of maple. Machine head with three tuning screws. Rest-pin with a steel spike. Inside construction: corner blocks of normal violin type; cross-strip 20 cm. wide and 8 mm. thick, glued to the back opposite f-holes; bass-bar and sound-post. Light yellow-brown varnish.
ProvenanceFrancis W. Galpin (1858-1945), Hatfield Regis, England; 1916, sold by Francis W. Galpin to William Lindsey (1858-1922), Boston, Massachusetts; 1916, gift of William Lindsey, in memory of his daughter, Leslie Lindsey Mason, to the MFA. (Accession Date: October 5, 1916)