Guitar

Jean-Baptiste Voboam

1697 · Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony · Musical Instruments

The back, sides, neck, and peghead of this guitar are overlaid with tortoiseshell, ebony, and ivory chevrons with framed scrollwork, lozenges, and geometric banding and edging. The top has a gilded rosette bordered by a band of mother-of-pearl ornaments. Originally strung with five pairs of strings, this instrument was converted in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century to six single courses.

Artist

Jean-Baptiste Voboam

Date

1697

Medium

Spruce, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl, ivory, ebony

Culture

French

Department

Musical Instruments

Credit line

Purchase, Clara Mertens Bequest, in memory of André Mertens, 1989