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Cittern (English guitar)
Lucas (English, active 18th century)
1750–1800
Object Place: London, England
Medium/Technique
Maple, spruce, mother-of-pearl, brass
Dimensions
Length 68 cm, width 29.7 cm (Length 26 3/4 in., width 11 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Leslie Lindsey Mason Collection
Accession Number17.1746
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionTwo-piece back and ribs of maple. Belly of fine-grain spruce. Rose of stamped brass in sunburst design encircled by musical instruments, with retaining ring of ivory. Neck and sickle-shaped head of maple terminating in square finial veneered with ivory set in black mastic. Watch-key tuning mechanism of brass. Fingerboard of maple (?), inlaid with flowers and circles of engraved pearl, and decorated at upper and lower end with engraved plaques of ivory. Four holes for capo and fifteen frets of brass. Nut missing. Bridge of ebonized wood. Ten pegs (only one extant) of ivory at lower end of body for fastening strings. Ten strings in five pairs. Medium brown varnish. Internal construction: Three lateral braces on back and two on belly (lowest brace angled).
InscriptionsHandwritten label: Lucas maker ... / [G]uittar on Silver [Street] / [Go]lden Square London
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)