Dear Stewart, Eugene and all,
Thanks for sharing this interesting painting!
I think we cannot be sure that this a neapolitan mandolin. I suppose this
instrument is more the older lute-like instrument because of the
following aspects:
- where the fingerboard passes into the belly - there are the points of the
fingerboard ("Deckenspitzen" in German?), that's not typical for a
neapolitan mandolin
- there is no hint that the strings are attached to the end of the
instrument, e.g. there is no decoration at the lower end of the belly
- maybe what seems to a hint for the neapolitan mandolin is the board-shaped
peg-box with backward fitted pegs but we also find that an lute-like
mandolins (like instruments made by Stradivari)
And indeed it would be really early for the neapolitan mandolin to have
spread to England...
But to make a more precise statement we should have a picture of a better
quality or see the picture by ourselves.
What is also very interesting: If we can call this instrument a "baroque
mandolin" we then have one more example for quill technique on this
instrument...
Best wishes,
Susanne
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stewart McCoy" <lu...@tiscali.co.uk>
To: "Lute Net" <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 24, 2010 7:08 PM
Subject: [LUTE] Mandolin at Kedleston Hall
Dear Eugene,
Many thanks indeed. That is an interesting point - that the Neapolitan
mandolin would be a comparatively new instrument for the young lady to
be playing. Just for the record, my friend has told me that the painting
is dated 1754, which is after the first mention of the instrument, but
before the first tutor books were published. One wonders how quickly the
mandolin spread in England at this time.
Best wishes,
Stewart.
-----Original Message-----
From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On
Behalf Of EUGENE BRAIG IV
Sent: 24 May 2010 01:07
To: Stewart McCoy
Cc: Lute Net
Subject: [LUTE] Re: Mandolin at Kedleston Hall
PS: Mid 18th-c. is right about right for extant instruments to begin
appearing in decent numbers. The first wave of mandolin popularity
(and almost all the first method books beginning in the 1760s)
happened
in Paris. Without knowing anything about the family's history, I
suspect that portraying themselves with a mandolin this early in that
movement was a demonstration of their cosmopolitan stylishness.
Best,
Eugene
----- Original Message -----
From: Stewart McCoy <lu...@tiscali.co.uk>
Date: Sunday, May 23, 2010 7:00 pm
Subject: [LUTE] Mandolin at Kedleston Hall
To: Lute Net <lute@cs.dartmouth.edu>
> Dear Eugene,
>
> In view of this discussion of Neapolitan mandolins, would you or
> anyoneelse care to comment on a painting of what I believe to be
> a Neapolitan
> mandolin at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire. I was recently sent the
> following query from a friend who is researching the music there.
>
> -o-O-o-
>
> If you go to
>
> http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-
> findaplace/w-kedles
> tonhall
>
> then click on 'Meet the family' the first picture is of Lady
Caroline
> Colyear (1733-1812) daughter of the 2nd Earl of Portmore, who
married
> Nathaniel Curzon in 1750: there is a charming portrait in the
Family
> Corridor of her playing the mandolin ?? , with Nathaniel
> standing, by
> Arthur Devis, dated 1754. Please could you identify the instrument!
>
> -o-O-o-
>
> Any observations would be much appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Stewart McCoy.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-
> a...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On
> Behalf Of Eugene C. Braig IV
> Sent: 17 May 2010 18:19
> To: 'Martyn Hodgson'; 'Lute Dmth'; 'Susanne Herre'
> Subject: [LUTE] Re: lute music and playing technique in italy 18th
> century
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-
> a...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On
> > Behalf Of Martyn Hodgson
> > Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 5:50 AM
> > To: Lute Dmth; Susanne Herre
> > Subject: [LUTE] Re: lute music and playing technique in italy
18th
> century
> >
> > Did not violinists play the mandolin,
> especially the
> > Neapolitan wire strung instrument tuned the same?
>
> [Eugene C. Braig IV] However, there isn't any evidence that the
> Neapolitan
> type existed until the mid 18th c. at the earliest.
> Instruments (some
> with
> somewhat dubious labels) don't appear until the 1740s and obvious
> designated
> repertoire not until the 1760s.
>
> Eugene
>
>
>
> To get on or off this list see list information at
> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
>
>
> --
