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RCM 46 Division Viol Barak Norman, London, 1692 Inscriptions Handwritten label: Barak Norman / At the bass Viol / in s t pauls Ally. / London Fecit / 1692 Brief description Late 17th-century division viol Dimensions : 1181, without tailpiece and hookbar 1151 : 632 : upper bouts 287, middle bouts 213, lower bouts 346 : at neck joint 69, at tail 112 : 513 : 659 (current; there are traces of other bridge positions) Description Front constructed of three bent staves of medium to wide grain; central stave 65.9mm wide at the bridge; C-shaped soundholes; double purfling; above bridge a foliate ornament of purfling and burnt cross-hatching (point d’aiguille). Ribs of maple; hookbar of stained ?maple. Back two-piece, book-matched, of maple with faint bird’s eye figure, with double purfling. The outer line is continuous, with dart ornament at tail and button; the inner line forms two panels, the lower back section having floral/knot designs at top and bottom. There is a quatrefoil knot ornament of purfling in the centre of the back. Original soundpost plate. Bar under fold and bar running along centre join were added in the 1960s. Original neck of maple with figure of fine curl; pegbox with open scroll; later rosewood pegs. Original marquetry decoration on replacement fingerboard and original tailpiece: foliage and birds in various woods (?walnut and ?plum in a ?holly ground). Later veneer of stained pear at lower end of tailpiece. Wedge under fingerboard is of two layers, the upper one added in the 1960s to correct a twist in the neck (see Commentary); ebony veneer at edges of fingerboard added at the same time. Commentary A fine example, with original neck and pegbox, of the work of Barak Norman (1651–1724), one of the last of the English viol-makers; he also built violins, violas and cellos, the latter being especially prized for their tone. In the 1690s he worked near St Paul’s Cathedral at the ‘Bass Viol’, next door to the ‘Harp’, the premises of Edward Lewis (see RCM 206); from 1713 he was in partnership with Nathaniel Cross (see RCM 184). Many of his viols survive elsewhere (Hebbert 2001, pp.285–329), including a very similar division viol now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Libin 1991, p.52). The three staves of the front of RCM 46 match closely: a dendrochronological analysis showed the date of the latest ring on the bass stave as 1677, centre stave 1678 and treble stave 1679 (Topham 2003). The front and ribs are very thin and the whole instrument is fragile due to woodworm damage. It was restored for the College by Dietrich 138
Kessler in the 1960s before the present Museum was founded; to correct warping an additional wedge was added to the neck, a new fingerboard made and the original marquetry re-applied; cracks in the front, back and ribs were repaired, bars added and a new bass-bar, soundpost and bridge fitted. The RCM Library holds a copy of The Division-Violist by Christopher Simpson, 1659, which contains additional manuscript ‘Rules for Gracing’. It is interesting that Simpson recommends the use of an instrument with a string-length of 30 inches, considerably longer than that of RCM 46 (currently c.26 inches) and of other surviving ‘division viols’ (see Fleming 2003, pp.18–22, 27–30).
The Division-Violist, from Christopher Simpson, The Division Violist (London: John Playford, 1659) RCM Library (Gb-Lcm C41/1)
Provenance Gift of Sir George Donaldson, 1894 References Technical drawing by Stephen Barber, 1976, © RCM Inventions 1885, p.2 Donaldson 1896, pl.XVIII Cowling 1913, p.114 & pl.VI Lütgendorff 1922, p.355 Remnant 1978, p.57 Tourin 1979, ‘RCM 2’ Grove 1980, ill. v.13, p.283 Grove 1984, v.2, p.774 & ill. p.775 Wells 1984, p.11–12 & ill. König 1985, pp.104–7 & ill. Remnant 1989, ill. p.51 Libin 1991, p.52 BBC, Early Music Special Issue 1994, p.18 & ill. Milnes 2000, p.19 Grove 2001, ill. v.18, p.46 Hebbert 2001, pp.291, 321, 323 & 327 Chrisp 2002: ill. p.39 Topham 2003, p.138