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Tenor violin
early 19th century
Object Place: United States, New England region
Medium/Technique
Walnut, pine, ebony
Dimensions
Length 86 cm, width 31.3 cm (Length 33 7/8 in., width 12 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Edwin M. Ripin Collection—Museum purchase with funds donated by Friends of the Collection
Accession Number1977.65
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsMusical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionOne-piece back of slab-cut walnut (?). Ribs of walnut. Neck of plain maple. Large, crude scroll. Inside of pegbox painted black. Two-piece belly of fine grain pine (?). No purfling. F-holes widen at center and have offset notches. Later tuning pegs of ebony. Fingerboard, tailpiece, and nut of hardwood painted black. End button of hardwood. Later bridge and soundpost. Later (?) thick red-brown varnish. Interior construction: Footed neck on platform carved from back, with large block along each side. Wide, hemi-spherical bottom block. No liners; ribs apparently butted to back and belly. Smallish corner blocks. Short, thin bass bar. Associated with the instrument are four old tuning pegs (three homemade and one commercial), two old bridges of unusual design (each has only two holes in center, instead of heart-type cut-out), an old removed repair from the treble side of the pegbox, a soundpost of unusual design, an old bow frog, and an old wood coffin-type case.
Provenance1977, sold by the estate of Edwin M. Ripin (1930-1975), Forest Hills, New York, to the MFA. (Accession Date: March 9, 1977)