Advanced Search 
Dance master's violin
Probably by: Georg Wörle (German, about 1620–after 1674)
1673
Object Place: Augsburg, Germany
Medium/Technique
Spruce, tortoiseshell, ebony, ivory
Dimensions
Length 45 cm, width 3.5 cm (Length 17 11/16 in., width 1 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Fraser and the Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession Number1995.123
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionBack comprised of five ribs, each covered with veneer of tortoiseshell and separated by strip of ivory. Belly of spruce with two C-shaped soundholes, small rose-shaped soundhole near upper end, and inlaid decoration of red heart, two green leaves, and small flowers. Neck, fingerboard, and tailpiece of wood covered with tortoiseshell veneer. Pegbox of ebonized wood, surmounted by carved ebony head of Nubian woman with red painted lips and separately attached earrings and necklace. End button and collar at join of body and neck of ivory. Tuning pegs of ivory with black incised circle and dot on each face.
InscriptionsHandwritten label: [Georg Wörle in / Augsburg] 1673
ProvenanceBy the 1870s, M. A. Jubinal, Paris, France. By 1995, Tony Bingham, London, England; 1995, sold by Bingham to the MFA. (Accession Date: June 21, 1995)
Chirping of the Nightingale (from The English Dancing Master), 1728
Composed by John Playford
Performed by Laura Jeppesen