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Guitar
Jean-Baptiste Champion (French, active 1783–1808)
about 1790
Object Place: Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Rosewood, palisandre, spruce, walnut, ebony, ivory
Dimensions
Length 93.2 cm, width 26.6 cm (Length 36 11/16 in., width 10 1/2 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1753
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionOne-piece back and ribs of rosewood. Belly of fine-grain spruce. Rope-pattern binding of ivory and ebony along edges of belly and soundhole. Soundhole also encircled with multi-line purfling of ivory and walnut (?). Separate rose (later, removed) of parchment in geometrical pattern. Neck and headstock of rosewood. Tuning pegs (later) and nut of ivory. Fingerboard veneered with walnut. Twelve tied-on frets of gut. Bridge (replaced) of ebony terminating in "moustaches." Ten strings in five pairs. Internal construction: Three lateral braces on back and two on belly (one above soundhole).
InscriptionsRepaired / 1963 by / Donald Warnock / Cambridge, Mass. Stamped on front and back of pegboard: CHAMPION; repair label: Extensively
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)
Allegro moderato, from Sonate pour une seule guitarre, 1784
Composed by Pierre Jean Porro
Performed by Olav Chris Henriksen; from the recording "La Guitarre Royalle," Museum Music label