Peter Wamsley, London, c. 1750
Viola: 60243
Printed label, "Made by Peter Wamsley / at ye Golden-Harp in Pickadilly / London 1740."
Possibly by Peter Wamsley II or Thomas Smith
Back: One-piece of tightly figured maple.
Top: One-piece of spruce.
Scroll: Plain maple.
Varnish: Clear brown-coloured coating, probably shellac-based.
Length of back: 40.85 cm
Upper bouts: 19.07 cm
Middle bouts: 12.62 cm
Lower bouts: 23.25 cm
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Notes:
"The attribution to Peter Wamsley, one of the leading makers in the early eighteenth century is unsafe following denrochronological analysis of the spruce front which established that the wood was cut no earlier than 1746, two years after Wamsley's death. However, on stylistic grounds the instrument certainly belongs to his workshop, which in fact remained in business until 1751, run by his widow Elizabeth and his son, also named Peter, assisted by Thomas Smith.Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum: The Complete Collection, John Milnes, editor, Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum: The Complete Collection, Oxford
Provenance
| until 1999 | Albert W. Cooper |
| from 1999 | Ashmolean Museum, Hill Collection, University of Oxford |
Certificates & Documents
- Dendrochronology report: John C. Topham, Surrey (2002) Dating the youngest tree ring to 1746
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References
Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum: The Complete Collection, John Milnes, editor, Oxford Musical Instrument Publishing, Oxford (illustrated)- The British Violin: The Catalogue of the 1998 Exhibition '400 Years of Violin & Bow Making in the British Isles', John Milnes, editor, British Violin Making Association (illustrated)
Musical Instruments in the Ashmolean Museum: The Complete Collection, John Milnes, editor, Oxford Musical Instrument Publishing, Oxford (illustrated)