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6 Course Cittern by "A Rossi Urbino," 16th Century

Current location: Unknown.

Images

"A. Rossi Urbino" - front view

"A. Rossi Urbino" - rear view

"A. Rossi Urbino" - bass side of pegblock

"A. Rossi Urbino" - treble side of pegblock

"A. Rossi Urbino" - broken side/bottom, showing interior bar

General description

This instrument was up for sale in the mid- to late-1990s. Its present whereabouts are currently unknown.

The instrument is carved from one piece, except for the soundboard and fingerboard. It appears very similar to the cittern currently in Bologna. The instrument is currently in very poor condition. There is a large hole in one side and the comb is missing.

Provenance / Maker

The words "A Rossi [da?] Vrbino" ["Urbino"] and a date (possibly "1530" or "1550"?) are written on the neck near to the neck block and adjacent to the fingerboard. The word "VRBINO" ["URBINO"] is also written on the peghead adjacent to the nut.

"A Rossi Urbino" - side of neck labeled "A Rossi Vrbino 1530" or "A Rossi Vrbino 1550"

"A Rossi Urbino" - peblock near nut labeled "VRBINO"

Measurements

Body:

maximum length: 712 mm

string length: c. 420 mm

nut to fret 12: 210 mm

maximum width: 244 mm

maximum depth, at neck block: 64 mm

minimum(?) depth, at tail: 34 mm [Note 1]

Soundboard:

width, maximum : 244 mm

rose diameter, inset: 80 mm

Back:

width, maximum: 214 mm

length: 280 mm

Sides:

thickness (measured at a crack): c.1.5 mm

height at heel, including top and back: 43 mm

height at bottom, including top and back: 23 mm

Fingerboard:

width at nut: 48.5 mm

length of fingerboard, from nut to end: 291 mm

Soundboard

The soundboard is cracked in many places, and a section is missing on the lower right hand side of the soundboard. There is also a rather large hole in the right bottom/side of the instrument below the missing piece of soundboard.

The soundboard is decorated with a single line of black around the outside edge and a circle of 2 lines of black around the rose, though these all appear to have been inked onto the surface of the soundboard rather than having been set-in with actual wood purfling. There is also a dark line (mastic?) around the rose where the rose was set in to the soundboard.

While the hole in the side of the instrument resulted in the loss of the comb string holder, it does permit a view inside the instrument. From this view it is possible to see the presence of a diagonal treble bar, much like the one in cittern 10/1 in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Rose

The rose is inset. It is carved from wood and does not appear to be backed by parchment, though it is backed by seven small bars, much as are lute rosettes. The design is unusual in that it appears to be neither exactly gothic or arabesque and resembles, rather, interwoven ropes.

Pegblock and Pegs

After the carved tradition, the instrument has a traditional pegblock rather than a pegbox. The finial (or head?) appears to be missing. Part of the "hook" on the back of the pegblock may also be missing.

There are twelve peg holes total, but only nine remaining pegs. Holes for ten pegs can be seen on the front of the pegblock (two of the holes currently contain broken peg shafts), with two holes on the bass side of the peblock. One of the remaining pegs is inserted laterally on the bass side. (The other bass side peg hole is vacant.)

Of the current nine pegs, seven of the pegs may be original and two are replacements.

Neck and Fingerboard

As mentioned earlier, the side of the neck has a signature and what may be a date. It appears to read "A Rossi da Vrbino" followed by either the date "1530" or "1550," (see image under Provenance/Maker, above) but this has not yet been confirmed.

Fretting

The fretting appears originally to have been diatonic, but some work appears to have been done to convert the instrument to a chromatic fretting for the upper four(?) courses only, including a partial 18th fret (covering the top course only?).

The original fret "wedges" appear to be of ebony; the later ones are some type of light-colored wood. The frets themselves may be made from highly tarnished brass or a silver-colored metal.

An additional interesting feature is the inscription on the fingerboard of the numbers 1 through 10 for the first ten frets and the letters A through I for frets eleven through nineteen. [Note 2]. If some of the fretting is indeed later work, then the labeling of the frets may have come at a later date.

Stringing

The layout for the strings at the nut is currently a 6x2 configuration (see image under Provenance/Maker, above).

String Holder

No string holder is currently on the instrument. The large hole both in and adjacent to the area of the string holder and the fact that the instrument is carved suggest that a comb was once there.

Notes

It is unclear from the measurements whether the distance is vertical (i.e. minimum height) or angled (i.e. the distance from the edge of the soundboard to the edge of the back).
For another instrument with a similar but not identical labeling of the frets, see cittern D.32026.

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