Pochette

Unknown

17th century · Wood, mother-of-pearl, ivory · Musical Instruments

Dancing was an expected aristocratic accomplishment. Instruction was given at home by a visiting dance master, who played a small fiddle to provide music for the lessons. The compact, slender shape of these instruments made them easy to transport and gave them the name pochette, which suggests that they were carried in one's coat pocket. Description: Boat-shaped body, the back of ebony inlaid with mother-of-pearl and four plaques of colored woods. Straight sound-holes. Finger-board inlaid with mother-of-pear and the sides of the neck similarly decorated. The pegbox terminating in a grotesque head.

Artist

Unknown

Date

17th century

Medium

Wood, mother-of-pearl, ivory

Culture

French

Department

Musical Instruments

Credit line

The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889