A THIRTEEN COURSE LUTE

Details

A THIRTEEN COURSE LUTE
By Joachim Tielke, labelled 'Joachim Tielke/in Hamburg An 16..'
The body of nine ribs of rosewood with intervening ivory stringing, the table an eighteenth-century replacement after the original, the fingerboard decorated with alternating engraved ivory and tortoiseshell pastoral scenes, the back of the neck of tortoiseshell decorated with ivory floral designs, the back of the reflexed pegbox decorated with open ivory lacework, thirteen courses of strings comprising eleven double courses and two single courses
36 in. (92.8 cm.) long overall; the length of the string 296 in. (73.7 cm.)

Provenance

Rothschild inv. no AR974.

Literature

G. Hellwig, Joachim Tielke, Ein Hamburger Lauten und Violenmacher der Barockzeit, Frankfurt am Main, 1980, pp. 302-3, illustrated.

Lot Essay

Joachim Tielke (1641-1719) was well known in musical circles in Hamburg and his instruments were much sought after by royalty and nobility in his lifetime. Nearly one hundred of Tielke's instruments of all kinds survive (see S. Sadie, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments, London, 1984, III, p. 584). His instruments are not only often lavishly decorated but also very fine musically.

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