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Lyre guitar
Joseph Pons (French, born in 1776)
about 1805
Object Place: Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Mahogany, spruce, ebony
Dimensions
Length 78 cm, width 33.6 cm (Length 30 11/16 in., width 13 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1768
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments
DescriptionTwo-piece back and ribs of mahogany. Belly of fine-grain spruce with two soundholes composed of six comma-shaped openings. Five-line purfling along edges of belly and encircling soundholes. Back and belly edged with binding of ebony. Moldings of ebony along base of body. Neck and both faces of headstock veneered with brown wood with black streaks. Arms of body joined to headstock with rods of gilded brass terminating in acorn-shaped ends. Tuning pegs (unmatched set) of ebony and rosewood. Fingerboard of ebony with thirteen frets of ivory. Nut of bone. Bridge and bridge pins of ebony. Internal construction: Two lateral braces on back and two on belly below soundholes.
InscriptionsPrinted label on inside of back below each soundhole: PONS, fils, / LUTHIER, / Rue du Grand Hurleur; / No. 5 / A PARIS, an 18
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)