Dear Vance & Marcus, I kept an e mail of Stephen Barber's concerning the Hever Castle lutes - three of them were authentic ivory bodied historical instruments - the Magno Dieffopruchar 6 course now in the Beare collection in London, a Joachim Tielke of 1696 now in the GNM Nurnberg and an Andreas Berr 13 course of 1699 now owned by the Boston Museum of Fine Art. The idea that any of these belonged to Anne Boleyn is pretty far fetched - even the earliest (the Dieffopruchar) is likely to have been built after her death. Hever Castle was the home of the Boleyn family and the Astors clearly liked to apply a little hype for the benefit of visitors. There is an excellent article by Stephen on the Dieffopruchar in "The Lute" 1982 Part 2 (UK Lute Society Journal) - this instrument is one of our most important reference points for the 6 course lute and many makers now offer copies of it. The use of ivory for lute bodies by Dieffopruchar, Tielke & Berr must surely mean that you are right, Vance, that it made a good sounding lute. I have a report of the sale of the Dieffopruchar and Berr lutes in "Early Music" - (October 1981) - they both sold for £4500 - not that much more than we pay for a copy now! Best wishes, Denys
----- Original Message ----- From: "Vance Wood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "lute list" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, November 08, 2003 7:23 PM Subject: Re: Purpose of veneer. > Marcur: > > The original question was concerning the neck of the Lute and not the > bowl/body. However it was not uncommon for Lutes to have been made with > Ivory bowls. The interesting fact of this is that a few of the original > surviving Lutes probably survived mostly because they were made of Ivory. > Ivory probably did make for a decent sounding Lute, the tops were still made > of Cedar or Pine. > > Vance Wood. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Marcus Merrin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Vance Wood" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 7:17 PM > Subject: Re: Purpose of veneer. > > > > I recall seeing Anne Bolyn's lutes at Hever castle in England when the > > place (Hever, not Engand) was still owned by the Astors. I seem to > > recall a couple of lutes whose backs were (or seemed to me) constructed > > entirely of ivory. I would imagine that this would be a highly > > unsuitable material and that these were for show rather than for her > > actual use, though I believe she was a player. I don't know what became > > of that collection of instruments, as I don't think they were sold with > > the castle. > > > > Marcus > > > > Vance Wood wrote: > > > > >Herbert: > > > > > >Ebony is very hard, beautiful and not prone to cracking, checking or > > >splitting. Most Lutes are made from lighter woods such as Pine, > Sycamore, > > >and Aspen which are lighter woods, they are then over laid or veneered > with > > >fancy woods as a visual element. If the Lute's neck were made of solid > > >Ebony it would be very heavy, as would any assortment of other hard woods > > >such as Mahogany, Cherry, Maple and etc.. In short it is done this way > > >mostly because of the weight. Then of course there are the visual > aspects > > >of figured hard woods such as tiger tailing, pillowing, birds eye, and > curly > > >figures. > > > > > >These elements are beautiful on an instrument but they are notoriously > lousy > > >as structural elements because of the erratic nature of their crazy > graining > > >patterns. There are also Lutes that have striped necks that match the > > >pattern started by the ribs. There are Lutes that were inlayed with > Ivory, > > >in ornate patterns. All of these are veneered and inlayed over a lighter > > >and softer core. Unless you are dealing with early Guitars most of them > are > > >made from solid hard wood, one of the reasons a guitar is so much heavier > > >than a Lute. > > > > > >Vance Wood. > > > > > > > > >----- Original Message ----- > > >From: "Herbert Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 12:51 PM > > >Subject: Purpose of veneer. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >>The invoice for my lute says > > >> > > >> "... ebony-veneered neck ..." > > >> > > >>The neck looks and feels good. > > >> > > >>But (bearing my ignorance in mind) is there other purpose to this > > >>veneering? > > >> > > >>I know that, in construction plywood, the grain in any ply (layer) is > > >>perpendicular to that in adjacent plies, for strength, and I was > wondering > > >>if the veneer on the neck serves a similar purpose. > > >> > > >> > > >> > > >> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > > // Marcus Merrin PhD. > > // EmptyAir Consulting > > // Linux/Unix-platform database and custom server technology > > // [EMAIL PROTECTED] |||||||| http://emptyair.com > > // (902)225-5188 (Mobile) |||||||||| (902)455-2284 (Office) > > ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// > > > > > > > >
