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Lute
Andreas Berr (Austrian, 1656–1722)
1699
Object Place: Vienna, Austria
Medium/Technique
Ivory, spruce, ebony
Dimensions
Length 81 cm, width 28.3 cm, depth 13.5 cm (Length 31 7/8 in., width 11 1/8 in., depth 5 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Arthur Tracy Cabot Fund
Accession Number1986.7
ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Musical Instruments
ClassificationsMusical instruments – Chordophones
DescriptionBack comprised of eleven ribs of ivory, each separated by strips of ebony, with capping strip. Strips of ebony along upper edges. Belly of fine-grain spruce with carved rose in geometric pattern. Neck and fingerboard of ebony. Pegbox of ebonized wood, veneered on front and back with ebony; back decorated with incised openwork panel of ivory in acanthus leaf pattern. Arm (later) for diapason strings and bridge of ebonized wood. Tuning pegs of ebony with buttons of ivory. Nine tied-on frets of gut and three (later) frets of wood. Nuts of ivory (main nut later). Twenty-four strings: two single chanterelles and nine pairs on fingerboard, and two pairs of diapasons. Internal construction: Seven lateral braces on belly (two above soundhole and one across soundhole) and one short, angled brace near lower end.
InscriptionsPrinted label: Andreas Berr / Lauten und Geigen: / macher in Wienn Anno 16 [handwritten: 99]/ [handwritten: 3 ur gr (?)i...(?); incised on underside of belly near neck joint: L B
ProvenanceMay 13, 1981, sold at auction by Christie's, New York, lot 48, to Hugh Gough, New York; 1986, sold by Gough to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 22, 1986)
Gigue qui imite Coucou (from MS: Kremsmünster L83), 1690s
Composed by Johann Anton Logi
Performed by Olav Chris Henriksen