{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O72509"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72509/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AN7898/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AN7898/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AN7898","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN7926","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN7897","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AN7896","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2017KC9831","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O72509/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O72509","accessionNumber":"1122-1869","objectType":"Bell cittern","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"The bell cittern or <i>cithrinchen</i>, as it is known in Germany, was a smaller version of the cittern, a popular instrument associated with taverns and barbers' shops, and it enjoyed a vogue from about 1650 until 1720. It was either strummed with a plectrum or played with fingers like a baroque guitar, the latter practice being widespread in Holland. This instrument bears the signature of Joachim Thielke of Hamburg (1641-1719), perhaps the greatest luthier from Germany of his day, and was probably made in about 1700 (the date \"1539\" was added by a different person and probably at a later date). It is lavishly inlaid with tortoiseshell and ivory <i>Laub und Bandelwerk</i> (leaf and band-work), a form of decoration very much associated with Thielke.","physicalDescription":"'A bell cittern or Hamburg <i>Cithrinchen. </i>Bell-shaped outline. Slightly arched back. This, like the sides, surrounds to the roses in the belly, and the pegbox is decorated with complex floral patterns and mythological figures, executed in marquetry of ivory and tortoiseshell, set in places with gems of coloured glass or paste. Belly of pearwood, with three sunk roses constructed with intricately cut vellum. The sides taper towards the base. The bridge is modern.\n\nThe offset neck is surmounted by a tortoiseshell and ivory marquetry fingerboard with silver frets. The pegbox has a wooden finial in the form of a woman's head studded with ivory to simulate strings of pearls. Five double courses, though of the original ten pegs only three remain, the rest being modern. The frets run up to no. 19, nos. 16 and 17 being fractional and 18 omitted. An inscription roughly scratched on the neck reads:<i> C'Est trop tard.</i>'\n\nAdapted from Anthony Baines, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part II: Non-Keyboard Instruments </i>(London, 1978), pp. 45-6.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Tielke, Joachim","id":"A7160"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"AAT251917"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"ivory","id":"AAT11857"},{"text":"turtle shell","id":"x47309"},{"text":"pine","id":"AAT12620"},{"text":"glass","id":"AAT10797"},{"text":"vellum","id":"x42751"},{"text":"seed pearls","id":"x30724"},{"text":"pearwood","id":"x34734"}],"techniques":[{"text":"inlay","id":"AAT53853"},{"text":"engraving","id":"AAT53829"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Pearwood with marquetry of turtle shell and ivory, with faceted coloured glass or paste, seed pearls, cut vellum and silver","categories":[{"text":"Images Online","id":"THES48937"},{"text":"Musical Instruments","id":"THES48919"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2006AN7898","2006AN7926","2006AN7897","2006AN7896","2017KC9831"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"5","id":"THES49787"},"free":"","case":"CA3","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Bell cittern","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Hamburg (city)","id":"x28900"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1700","earliest":"1695-01-01","latest":"1704-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Length","value":"64","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"24","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"maximum","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"4.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Depth of neck","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"36","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"string length","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"IOACHIM : TIELKE IN HAMbúrg 1539","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed on the neck. The date is in a different hand."},{"content":"C'Est trop tard","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"\"it's too late\"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Inscribed on the upper right side of the body."}],"objectHistory":"This object was bought from a M. Baur of Paris (presumably a dealer) for £30 - 0 - 0 in July 1869.\n'Though of inferior quality to other Tielke bell citterns, with the shapes poorly drawn and the engraving wretched, the example is, in the opinion of Herr Hellwig, nevertheless by Joachim Tielke.'\n\nReferred to in The South Kensington Museum's published list of acquisitions for the year 1869:\nQUINTERNA, OR CHITTERNA. Ornamented with tortoise-shell, mythological figures in ivory, and precious stones. Ten strings of catgut, arranged in five pairs. On the side of the neck is the inscription - \"&lt;i&gt;Joachim Tielke in Hamburg, 1539&lt;/i&gt;.\" &lt;i&gt;German&lt;/i&gt;. First half of 16th century. \r\nL. 2 ft. 1 in., W. 9 1/ in. (Bought, 30&lt;i&gt;l&lt;/i&gt;.) 1122-'69\n\nGünther Hellwig dated the instrument to ca.1680; see <i>Joachim Tielke. Ein Hamburger Lauten- und Violenmacher der Barockzeit </i>(Frankfurt/Main, 1980), p.156.\n\nConserved (V&amp;A) in 1963, and restrung (1964) in nylon by W.E. Hill &amp; Co. who also made and fitted seven new pegs.\n\nA discussion of Tielke's marquetry can be found in Friedemann Hellwig, 'Die Marketerien auf den Instrumenten Joachim Tielke', <i>Die Kunst der Ebenisten: Quellenstudien, technologische Untersuchengen und innovative Verfahren in der Holzresaurierung</i>, ed. Jorg Weber (Potsdam: Verlag der Fachhochschule, 2017, pp. 34-41. Copy in departmental file for this object.\n\n","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bell cittern or Hamburg Cithrinchen, probably by Tielke, Hamburg, Germany, ca. 1700.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Otto van Veen, <i>Amorum Emblemata, Figuris Aeneis Incisa</i> (Antwerp, 1608), pp. 29, 59 and 195; reproduced with an introduction by Dmitrij Tschižewskij (Neudruck, Hildesheim, 1970).\r\n\r\nCarl Engel, <i>Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Ancient Musical Instruments, South  Kensington Museum</i> (London, 1870), p.44.\n\nCarl Engel, editor, <i>Catalogue of the Musical Instruments in the South Kensington Museum </i>(London 1874), p.247 no. 1122.\r\n\r\nHans Nirrnheim, \"Zur Geschichte des Musikinstrumentenbaues in Hamburg III: Eine Zusammenstellung noch vorhandener Tielkescher Instrumente\", <i>Mittheilungen des Vereins fűr Hamburgische Geschichte</i> 21 (1901), pp.452-453, fig. 5.\r\n\r\nCarl Engel, editor, <i>An Illustrated Catalogue of the Music Loan Exhibition at Fishmongers' Hall, June and July 1904 </i>(London, 1909), p. 135.\r\n\r\n<i>Musikhistorisches Museum von Wilhelm Heyer in Cöln, Katalog von Georg Kinsky</i>, Vol. 2 (Cologne, 1912), pp.275-276.\n\nGeorg Kinsky, <i>Musikgeschichte in Bildern </i>(Leipzig, 1929), p.241.\r\n\r\nGünther Hellwig, \"Joachim Tielke\", <i>Galpin Society Journal</i> XVII (1964) p.33.\r\n\r\nEmanuel Winternitz, <i>Die schönsten Musikinstrumente des Abendlandes</i> (Munich, 1966) p.186, illus. 187.\n\r\nAnthony Baines: <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Part II: Non-keyboard Instruments </i>(H.M.S.O., London, 1968), p.45 no. 10/2, illus. figs. 65 and 65A.\n\nAnthony Baines, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part II: Non-Keyboard Instruments </i>(London, 1978), pp. 45-6.\n\nGünther Hellwig, <i>Joachim Tielke. Ein Hamburger Lauten- und Violenmacher der Barockzeit </i>(Frankfurt/Main, 1980), no. 18, p.98, 102-105, 107-8, 112, and 156-8.\n\nAlexander Pilipczuk, \"Der Hamburger Instrumentenmacher Jaochim Tielke:  Künstlerische-historische Aspekte\" <i>Weltkunst</i>  51 (1981), no. 8, p.1136.\n\nStanley Sadie, editor, <i>The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments</i>, 3 vols. (London and New York, 1984), vol. I, p.375.\n\nChristoph Rueger, <i>Musical Instruments and their Decoration </i>(Cincinnati, 1986), fig.27.\n\nPedro Caldeira Cabral, <i>A guitarra portuguesa</i> (Madrid, 1999), p.71.\n\nHoward Schott and Anthony Baines, <i>Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Part II: Non-Keyboard Instruments. New catalogue entries, supplementary notes and bibliography by James Yorke</i>  (London, 2002), pp.45-6.\r\n\nFriedemann and Barbara Hellwig, <i>Joachim Tielke. Kunstvolle Musikinstrumente des Barock</i> (Deutscher Kunstverlag, Berlin and Munich, 2011), pp.206-8.\n\n\r\n\n\n"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Friedemann and Barbara Hellwig, Joachim Tielke: Kunstvolle Musikinstrumente des Barock (Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2011), pp.206-08. ISBN  978-3-422-07078-3"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Anthony Baines: Catalogue of Musical Instruments in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Part II: Non-keyboard Instruments (H.M.S.O., London, 1968), pp.45-6 no. 10/2, illus. figs. 65 and 65A.\r\n\r\n10/3 CITTERN. Probably by Tielke. Hamburg; about 1700. Fig. 65.\r\nNo label visible, but inscribed on the side of the neck J<i>oachim Tielke in Ham. 1539.</i> The date is in a different hand.\r\nA bell cittern or Hamburg <i>Cithrinchen</i>. Bell-shaped outline. Slightly arched back. This, like the sides, surrounds to the roses in the belly, and the pegbox is decorated with complex floral patterns and mythological figures, executed in marquetry of ivory and tortoiseshell, set in places with gems of coloured glass or paste. Belly of pearwood, with three sunk roses constructed with intricately cut vellum. The sides taper towards the base. The bridge is modern.\r\nThe offset neck is surmounted by a tortoiseshell and ivory marquetry fingerboard with silver frets. The pegbox has a wooden finial in the form of a woman's head studded with ivory to simulate strings of pearls. Five double courses, though of the original ten pegs only three remain, the rest being modern. The frets run up to no. 19, nos. 16 and 17 being fractional and 18 omitted. An inscription roughly scratched on the neck reads: <i>c'est trop tard 1539</i>\r\nDimensions: Length total 64; belly 28. Width, maximum, 24. Depth at neck 4.7, at base 3.2. String length 36.\r\nMuseum No.: 1122-1869\r\nEngel, p. 247. Though of inferior quality to other Tielke bell citterns, with the shapes poorly drawn and the engraving wretched, the example is, in the opinion of Herr Hellwig, nevertheless by Joachim Tielke.\n\nFIG. 65 and A. No. 10/3. Cittern, probably by Joachim Tielke, of Hamburg; about 1700. The date \"1539\" added after the name of Tielke, which has been inscribed on the side of the neck, is obviously wrong. Apart from the fancy marquetry—which is not of the high quality often associated with Tielke's work—this instrument is embellished with paste jewels. \n\r\n"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Bell cittern\r\nAbout 1700\r\nGermany (Hamburg)\r\nProbably by Joachim Tielke","date":{"text":"2015","earliest":"2015-01-01","latest":"2015-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["1122-1869"],"accessionNumberNum":"1122","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1869,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LN1438","2019LN7709","2019LU5809","2019LW0951"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-12","recordCreationDate":"2003-01-03","availableToBook":false}}